“Then there are the other times. The times when photography really gets me down. The times when I think it’s all pointless. It’s all been done before. These are the times when I hate photography.” Mark Whitney

Mark Whitney, developer, poet (see here) and great black and white photographer. He seems very down to earth and a little bit funny: ‘Forestrat.com’ a rather rough alternative domain name for Mr. Whitney’s homepage, but you get the idea. He loves being in nature and randomly capturing beautiful moments. I came across his work when i looked for monochromatic river photography and suddenly i am all in the mood for a walk in a forest. Spellbinding, detail loving art. I do like to read the blog entry the photograph comes with, most of the times he records his thoughts on it and things that move him. Oh, and contrary to the quote i posted on top there are moments aswell when he loves photography:

“Sometimes I still have that same sense of wonder and excitement about photography. I don’t see the images magically loom out from below the surface of developer anymore, but I sit and watch as they popup on my screen while they download from my camera and I often find myself just sitting and watching as a new print advances millimeter by millimeter from under the printer carriage. You might think it’s like watching paint dry, but I’m just thrilled to see something that I created and set in motion materialize before my eyes. And it’s even better than the old toy because these prints are made completely by me and not just re-prints of prefabbed negatives (…) I check out the lines and forms of the scenes, the careful exposures, the meticulous development of the film, the texture of the print surface, and the subtle shadings especially in black and white work that fire the imagination and show more to the viewer than meets the eye.

These are the times when I love photography.” For a walk, Ea Birkkam.

today: forest stream