One of the things I like most about photography is the essence of the moment and how, more than any other medium, photography is able to capture it. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but when you see something that you think might make for a great image, then, at that moment, you have to take it. I’m pretty sure there are quite a few photographers who’ve made the mistake of thinking that they could come back later and get the shot, only to discover a car parked in the wrong spot, or a tree has been cut down, or the light isn’t right, or any other number of changes in scene that makes what they saw a memory as opposed to a photograph they can share.

I bring this up only as an observation about place. And how it can change despite a permanence to the things that make up a place. Sun, light, people, trash, snow. An unknown amount of variables determine the feel of a place. I could go back and stand in this same spot ten times, a hundred times and get as many shots.

There’s a scene from a great movie entitled “Smoke” with Harvey Keitel that pretty much sums up what I’m trying to say. Rather than try to explain the scene, I’ll just suggest watching the movie. And in the meantime I’ll offer this and all the ways it could have been different.

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