At first glance, it doesn’t seem I have much (OK, anything) in common with Elizabeth Taylor. And yet: As I was building this Web site and struggling for a way to express what excites me about photography, I stumbled across something that she once said and felt I had found a kindred spirit. She said, “My personal philosophy of beauty is to always believe that something wonderful is about to happen.” The split infinitive aside (“always to believe” would have been correct), I thought, “That’s it!” She gave me the framework for expressing my approach in a way that parallels her thinking and reflects the same appreciation for the intersection between beauty and discovery. So, here it is: My personal philosophy of wonderful is always to believe that you’re about to see something beautiful.
Yes, there’s a lot of ugliness in the world -- so much that often distracts us from all the beauty. One of the things I love about the camera is that it’s a great tool for eliminating those distractions and focusing my attention on the beauty. Through a camera lens I have found beauty truly everywhere: On the beaches of Hawaii, yes, but also in broken windows alongside New York’s Highline and a stack of sarapes in a Mexican mercado. To me, there’s something joyful in finding spots of deeply saturated color, in isolating interesting patterns, in watching the dance between light and shadow. The common denominator in all my photographs is that they capture a moment in which I thought some variation of, “Oh, that’s cool!” And it’s that sense of wonder and joy – the moment of seeing something in a way that I haven’t seen it before – that I hope to share in the photographs you’ll find here.
That said, probably no one is more surprised than I am that this site exists at all. That’s because I’ve spent all of my adult life (and a fair amount of my childhood, too) as a writer. I’ve earned my living writing and editing for magazines, writing and publishing four non-fiction books, and even teaching other people how to write. So, at this point in my life, a photography Web site? Maybe it was inevitable. Throughout my magazine career I loved the graphic design part of the business, and the process of using design – including photography – to bring ideas to life. And as a huge fan of old movies I’ve loved the classic Hollywood style that found just the right way to light Marlene Dietrich’s face to underscore an emotional point.
For as long as I can remember I’ve taken photographs. But it was the advent of digital photography that changed everything for me. I love the instant gratification of seeing the images I take – no more waiting days or weeks to get the processed film back to see how things turned out. Better yet, seeing the images right away affords the opportunity of fixing mistakes and finding an even better angle. Suddenly I found that I wasn’t just taking pictures I was taking pictures – literally by the thousands. I was also getting better at it and having more fun than ever. I started entering contests and getting ribbons at the county fair and selling some pieces and finally I decided that I wanted a place where I could share the photographs I like best.
Thank you for visiting the site. I hope you enjoy what you find. If you spot a particular favorite, please let me know in the Guest Book section. And if you do like the photographs, please check back once in a while. I’ll be adding more images regularly, and plan on photography being a passion for a long time to come.
(Yes, I’m still writing, too – but I have definitely learned that sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words.)
Yes, there’s a lot of ugliness in the world -- so much that often distracts us from all the beauty. One of the things I love about the camera is that it’s a great tool for eliminating those distractions and focusing my attention on the beauty. Through a camera lens I have found beauty truly everywhere: On the beaches of Hawaii, yes, but also in broken windows alongside New York’s Highline and a stack of sarapes in a Mexican mercado. To me, there’s something joyful in finding spots of deeply saturated color, in isolating interesting patterns, in watching the dance between light and shadow. The common denominator in all my photographs is that they capture a moment in which I thought some variation of, “Oh, that’s cool!” And it’s that sense of wonder and joy – the moment of seeing something in a way that I haven’t seen it before – that I hope to share in the photographs you’ll find here.
That said, probably no one is more surprised than I am that this site exists at all. That’s because I’ve spent all of my adult life (and a fair amount of my childhood, too) as a writer. I’ve earned my living writing and editing for magazines, writing and publishing four non-fiction books, and even teaching other people how to write. So, at this point in my life, a photography Web site? Maybe it was inevitable. Throughout my magazine career I loved the graphic design part of the business, and the process of using design – including photography – to bring ideas to life. And as a huge fan of old movies I’ve loved the classic Hollywood style that found just the right way to light Marlene Dietrich’s face to underscore an emotional point.
For as long as I can remember I’ve taken photographs. But it was the advent of digital photography that changed everything for me. I love the instant gratification of seeing the images I take – no more waiting days or weeks to get the processed film back to see how things turned out. Better yet, seeing the images right away affords the opportunity of fixing mistakes and finding an even better angle. Suddenly I found that I wasn’t just taking pictures I was taking pictures – literally by the thousands. I was also getting better at it and having more fun than ever. I started entering contests and getting ribbons at the county fair and selling some pieces and finally I decided that I wanted a place where I could share the photographs I like best.
Thank you for visiting the site. I hope you enjoy what you find. If you spot a particular favorite, please let me know in the Guest Book section. And if you do like the photographs, please check back once in a while. I’ll be adding more images regularly, and plan on photography being a passion for a long time to come.
(Yes, I’m still writing, too – but I have definitely learned that sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words.)
© 2013-2023 by Allan Halcrow