NATURE'S CHILD

THERE IS a lot of beauty to see,
but sometimes we need
to close our eyes
and just
be.

HOLY

I SPENT the afternoon in the Cathedral. I love that this creative desire I have is taking me into astonishing environments that I would otherwise have no need to be in.

The cathedral is immense, staggering, resplendent. It was nothing less than awe-inspiring, vaulted ceilings that went on for days, lavish gilded mouldings throughout, old hand-carved marble statues, candles, candles, everywhere beautiful ambient candles and soft amber lights. The dim light seemed to make the environment more sacred, and I felt more reverent if that makes sense.

It was almost magical when a middle-aged man with thick horn-rimmed glasses wearing a frayed brown corduroy jacket and donning a dusty backpack slipped out of the darkness to stand by my side. He started speaking in low hushed tones about the history of the church, the names of the saints of the statues depicted and their significance, miraculous occurences, hidden secret scriptures and motivations of control, who carved what statue and where it came from in what year. (There was a beautiful old, old statue of Mary with baby Jesus from the early 1800's, a gift off the boat from Italy).

The whole encounter was so surreal to me that I had to mentally ask myself a few times if I could possibly be dreaming..? And 30 minutes later he just as noiselessly slipped away, back into the dimness from whence he came. Wow! Life perpetually offers us the most gorgeous experiences if we're willing to meet it half way. I love this life.

And just before I left the cathedral the most mind-blowing thing of all happened. I set my camera and tripod up before a beautiful marble fountain filled with holy water. I peered through the viewfinder, set everything straight and snapped the photo. With my eye still to the viewfinder I saw a shadowy figure step out of the darkness into the photo, into the light, and stand behind the water basin. My heart leapt. My blood pulsed loudly in my ears. I saw him in my tiny little frame, dip his hand into the water and lift his arm slowly, slowly until his finger touched the top of his head. I held my breath and was flooded with feelings of deep respect and reverence for this wondrous sight before me and snapped my finger down on the shutter release with a huge exhale. I knew immediately it was going to be one of my favourite photos ever.

And it is.

WAITING FOR THE NEW WORLD

WHAT DRIVES my photography can be summed up in one sentence: "I want you to see the miraculous in the mundane". That's it! It's all about seeing. Just that. Seeing what is. Not trying to capture just the 'special moments' but seeing that every moment is special. Authentic. Every moment stands on its own.

I want to convey this to others. I want to freeze moments in time because we are so busy whirling by them in our everyday hustle and bustle that we overlook their signifance. I want to say, "Look. This moment, these forms, this light, these shadows are happening around you all of the time. This is something you could see on any day and you may not find anything extraordinary about it, but the question is DO you see it? Do you really SEE IT??" And of course most people don't. But in the act of capturing and sharing a single moment, you just might open someone's eyes. You just might wake someone from their slumber.

And that is my absolute hope. That is it for me, right here. I want to help people wake up to this life, to the miracle of this world, to the miracle of who you are.

"Once you really commence to see things,
then you really commence to feel things".
~ Edward Steichen

I want people to feel, too. I might show you something beautiful one day; a flock of birds, a romantic beach scene, some amazingly wise eyes in the face of a child. I might bring you pain on the next day; an old woman curled up in an abandoned building, crying, an anguished firefighter extinguishing an inferno. I might bring you bruises and dumpsters and repentance, because I want you to see the beauty in that TOO. In all of it. In that ache that you feel, in that sorrow, in that reverence, in that bliss, in that connection we have and share with all things. That 'umph' that 'ahhh' that ' ohhhhhh...' it's ALL rich. It's all so ravishingly sublime. It all IS. And I don't want to say 'no' to any of it. I want to rejoice in it all.

But really, in such a big, big way, I am doing all this for myself. I am quite selfishly motivated - I need to do it. There is a thrill in it for me. I get a euphoric feeling when I have captured a single exquisite moment. The whole thing is a drug, it is a high, something that makes my heart race.

And it keeps my eyes open.
It keeps me alert.
It keeps me aware of all the riches.

Happy New Year!
I send you love,
Katia

© Katia Roberts, 2005 All Rights Reserved

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Katia Roberts resides in Seattle, Washington. Her passions include photography, tutoring elementary-grade students, and playing West African traditonal drum rhythms & songs in a 12-piece drum and dance ensemble called 'Hamanah Don'. (Dance of Hamanah).

Katia can be reached by email at: iamkatia@gmail.com or visit her photography gallery here.