The Graceful Photon

A place to take a glimpse at images I'm making, or if you're me, many glimpses.

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Three images from my new photobook, Life at the edge of Heaven. For me it has served as a meditation on loss and beauty, and hopefully it can prove useful to others struggling with the impermanence of the things, places, and people that we love.

The entire thing is available for download at:

https://db.tt/iWcNBaJq

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Spotted today on the mountain. Such a conspicuous shell - I wonder how it evades predation when perched so obviously in the open.

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On a walk with my Pa in the river valley we came across this patch of thistles last August. Such a simple moment and place, and yet so powerful. As if the Divine had unexpectedly crystallized right before us, reminding us that all times, places, and organisms are Holy.

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Okay, it's just a chlorine dispenser floating in a pool, but isn't there something just a little miraculous looking about it?

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A cactus grove in Joshua Tree National Park from around Christmas. Such a beautiful place, such a wonderful ecosystem, such a miraculous feeling. Hopefully it brightens all of your days!

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A warm picture for an icy Montréal day

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Wishing everyone a good 2014!

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Merry Christmas all!

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To celebrate Advent I've written and illustrated another hymn in an abstract modernist way. Lately I've been feeling that abstraction is the form of art most suiting to hymns - that more traditional forms of representation can't speak to the glory of the Divine. The whole thing can be found here:

https://db.tt/yJtrdyuS

Hope you enjoy!

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An abandoned project where I literally cut away non-tree elements of my nature photographs to emphasize the interconnectedness of ecological communities. A little too formalist in it's treatment perhaps, but I like this picture in general.

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I think this happened as a technical exercise to see if it was possible to trace a paper drawing with my tablet. I love how because it was a throwaway sketch (and maybe should have stayed that way) I did no research into Turgenev's appearance and went for a sort of Baroque John Lennon.

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I know I'm a little behind the curve, but I don't want to miss the opportunity to celebrate the beginning of Advent (which went down on Sunday). The days are getting darker, Montréal is getting colder, and it seems a good time to reflect on all the injustices in the world, with the hope of better, more peaceful, days to come.