Light and Emotion

Light is the basis of all great landscape photography, and it influences me and my work more than any other single element. I’ve often tried to describe how light can create strong emotional responses in a viewer, yet it is so difficult to put into words at times.

I recently discovered Art:21, a great PBS television series that focuses exclusively on contemporary visual art and artists in the United States. They recently featured Robert Adams, an influential b&w photographer who has been documenting man’s negative influence on the American West. I thought what he had to say about light was exactly how I’ve thought about it (although never said so eloquently), and extremely valuable to anyone who wants to make better images.