I travel whenever possible to take photographs for my work. I visit aquariums, museums, historical locations, and landscapes and take thousands of photographs. Many of these photographs include interesting artifacts such as clocks, dials, diagrams, wheels, whatever I can find to incorporate into my work. Twenty of those years I lived in Hawaii with landscapes, skies, and artifacts readily available.

New photographs act as a springboard for conceptual ideas. Then what happens if traveling is not an option due to the pandemic – not even a visit to a local museum? My solution is to stay home and travel by taking a deep dive into my photographic archive to discover unexpected springboards.

My first consideration is how to travel. Usually, I drive or fly but this time I provide my own means of conveyance. Next Stop Amsterdam emerges from an automotive diagram that sprouts fire engine wheels with delicate blossoms as cushions for my journey. Horns honk at my arrival as I choose my stops throughout the universe.

Next stop, Amsterdam

Suddenly, at my next stop, the universe opens, and I emerge through Harmonious Encounter onto the Scheveningen pier in The Netherlands along a rocky Spanish coastline. I feel the delight of experiencing another culture while watching children laugh and play the surf, fish overhead as I listen to Dutch conversations around me. “Let’s have Indonesian food or croquettes for dinner” we discuss as we walk to the tram.

Harmonious Encounter

No trip of mine would be complete without taking photographs so I need a camera. I look through my archive and find Holiday Flash. My camera now available, my eye peeps through the aperture as I frame new photographs, nesting into lush plants ready to spring into action.

Holiday Flash

It seems there are springboards to be found if I stay home and take a deep dive into my archive. But I am already planning my next trip.

Inner silence and concentration
Peering through petals, slogging through sand
I click, click, click

Immersive photographic journeys
Sometimes with friends as they patiently joke
“It seems I have waited for years.”

Choosing a viewpoint, framing, and focusing
Never knowing how the photographs will be used
I collect, collect, collect

An insatiable desire to take new photographs
That joyful feeling of discovery and possibility
I click, click, click