I have no schedule and I'm always busy

That’s me. The shadow. On the side of the wall of Java Central. Just taking this aging body to new heights no matter the danger or the time.

I get to see a lot of things because I don’t have a schedule. Retired means I can do what I want when I want. Without needing to keep a schedule. Sure, there are specific times and places for certain events like city council meetings and last night’s Uptown Review Board that hinted about new outdoor lighting at the library.

You would think that without a schedule I would never be busy. that is so wrong.

I stay very busy because every moment has a photograph in it. I’m always busy seeing photographs.

That every moment holds within it a photograph is a reflection on the nature of my daily existence, suggesting that within the mundane and the ordinary lie depths of beauty, meaning, and existential significance to be discovered and photographed.

Photographs freeze time, capturing fleeting moments. Fleeting but preserved in a visual record. Photographs transform these moments into the extraordinary, where the overlooked details of our daily lives are given beauty and significance. Every photograph is a testament to seeing beyond the surface, to finding and framing the transcendental in the existential.

The ability to find photographs in the ordinary is not merely an aesthetic endeavor; it is an existential one. It is a reminder that life, in all its complexity and simplicity, is composed of moments worth noticing and preserving. Photography becomes a form of existential meditation, a practice of being present and mindful of acknowledging the value and richness of our daily lives, even when we’re busy.

Transcendental photographs that emerge from the fabric of our everyday existence serve as a bridge between the individual and the universal. They remind us that our personal experiences, no matter how trivial they might seem, are part of a larger human story. We are all connected.

Staying busy, retired or not, doesn’t separate you from being able to see the transcendental moments that flow through and around us every day.

I’m lucky as a photographer to be able to make photos of the moments, create a visual record, and add to the visual catalog of my life and the subject’s and viewer’s lives.

I encourage you to look beyond the ordinary, to find the transcendental in the minutiae of your daily lives, and to capture those moments not just with your cameras, but with your hearts and minds. In doing so, not only will you enrich your own life but also contribute to a collective memory of what it means to be human, creating a tapestry of images that, together, tell the story of our existence.

Always make photographs. Always.