8 July 1996

Time and Photography

I don't know what precipitated it, but I suddenly consciously realized the attraction of photography: I love the feeling of time rushing by. There are varying thicknesses of time between the viewer and the print; that's where the magic comes from.

Sometimes the time is dense, almost opaque; there are miles and years of time between the eye and the print. Other times, there's no perceptible amount of time at all between the photograph and the viewer. In most of my favorite photographs there are both extremes, a pleasant topography.