Lately I've been spending time with Henri Cartier-Bresson and Minor White. Both of these giants in the history of photography not only made significant contributions through their images, but also through their teachings and writings. I've been reading a recently published (2005) collection of Henri Cartier-Bresson's writings called "The Mind's Eye." In it is his long out-of-print work, "The Decisive Moment." My reading about Minor White has been online and through PBase messages from Phil Douglis who took a week-long workshop with him in 1974. Every word is resonating deeply with my lived experience of this amazing artistic medium. Both men saw photography as so much more than recording sights and events; they saw its spiritual dimension as well. For them photography required a way of seeing that touched every aspect of their lives. It defined who they were and how they existed in the world. Evidence of this can be found in one of Minor White's most famous quotes: "Be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence." He also said: "Often while traveling with a camera we arrive just as the sun slips over the horizon of a moment, too late to expose film, only time enough to expose our hearts."

When I read such words I know what is being said because I have lived it myself. I'm not saying I am anywhere near Minor White or Henri Cartier-Bresson in terms of my work, but I am saying that we are on the same path. I'd like to end with a quote from a message I received yesterday from Phil Douglis (Expressive Photography Cyberbook):

"You don't have to be bound between hard covers, hang in museums or galleries, or be a Minor White, Henri Cartier Bresson or Alfred Stieglitz to be part of photography's history. To be sure, people like that are universally known, respected, and remembered for their contributions. But every photographer who has had something significant to say, and who has said it in ways that move the medium forward, inch by inch, is what really makes photographic history. It is a cumulative process. At least that's how Minor White explained it to us -- he told us the same thing that I am telling you. We can all play a role in the history of this medium if we keep growing, experimenting, and learning. Never ever stop learning."