How I Came to Taking Pictures: The Unwanted Gift that Keeps on Giving

Several years ago when I tore my achilles tendon I was offered the most unwanted gift for a life-time athlete; the requirement to change up the speed with which I moved around on the planet. Upon initial acquisition of an athletic injury most of us are of course, blinded to seeing this gift because we are ensconced in denial, grief, anger or the self pity that our usual life speed may have to change up at all. But when we finally succumb to the excruciatingly patient task of tending to the healing of our body (so that we can get back up to speed), it is possible to catch a glimpse of the opportunity available to us during this undesired down time.

Being a realist as well as someone who has beat the shit out of my body for as long as I can remember it was inevitable that the day would come when it was time for me to embrace this dreaded gift. Little did I know its offering would not only involve a shift in life speed, but a love affair with a country—as well as a newfound intimate relationship with a camera.

The full story and ramifications of my injury is large and has wide wings, but for the sake of this post we’ll go with the hummingbird version. I tore my achilles and was required to take a year off of running, which turned into only intermittent running bouts over many more months due to complications with its healing. During this time and subsequent gift—the required life slow down—I birthed Expedition Bhutan, a 4-person crossing of Bhutan via trekking and mountain biking. I also bought a new camera (with a generous gift from a dear friend*).

Now some may not consider going non-motorized at high altitude across an entire very rugged country in the Himalaya region as a reduction in life-speed, but compared to my previous pace of racing through most countries, the velocity of the Expedition was quite civilized to me. And more so it brought the newfound gift to full light as a chance to not only fully absorb but capture on camera our exotic and spiritual surroundings.

Now just like you, I’ve taken pictures most of my life and have even intermittently brought along a compact camera during races to anemically document my experiences. But when one’s priority is to move ‘swiftly’ while successfully surviving an event in a hostile land, image capturing becomes a lowly priority. The pace of Expedition Bhutan then, became a new opportunity to not only slow down to visually and psychologically experience my surroundings, but to capture it digitally so that I could share the rare experience. [I’ve subsequently returned to Bhutan three more times to volunteer with the Bhutan Olympic Committee—and to take more pictures.]

As I engaged physically with the geography, my heart was captivated by the culture and people and I started the intricate relationship of framing with my camera lens this new slower physical/mental sync with my surroundings. Though perhaps odd to my happily sedentary friends out there, this new slow-sync is still my least desired way of moving but was then (and is still now) a shiny brand new way that I was experiencing the world.

Since then my camera has become a prompt to revisit this slowed down pace while prioritizing to focus my minds eye, versus on my physical speed. When the ‘big’ camera is in my hand its as if a switch goes off in my brain causing me to my see my surroundings in an altered manner. I’ve found (not quite as much!) pleasure lingering for hours at a phenomenal cultural site or geographic wonder with camera in hand, as I do trotting through the redwoods early on a brisk spring morning. And I still most enjoy combining the two—bringing camera along on a run, hike or on the bike. Many of my favorite shots were taken while on the move and stumbling upon a scene that happens to capture my mind.

But whether I’m shooting while hanging out, or shooting while in motion, there is one common thread that runs through my experience to a new place. I always want to share what I’m experiencing. So I write and speak and capture images—so you can enjoy what I’m enjoying.

So I’d love to share images with you this coming weekend at 17th Ave Art Studios—Sat/Sun from 11-5, where I’ll be showing photos from my uninvited-slowed-down-life. Come on down and enjoy the fruits of my injury :).

*Special acknowledgment: A couple years before Expedition Bhutan I was given a very generous gift of cash by a long-time dear friend and client Suzanne de Beaumont, for the role I have played in her extraordinary life. It is with Suzanne’s surprising gift that I was able to purchase my first worthwhile camera. It is with her generosity in mind that I continue to satisfy my passion for image capturing. Thank you dear friend!