The Camera and I Working Together

The camera does something I cannot do because it does not think.

It is a tool that has become indispensable to my work

Like charcoal, brushes, paint, palette knife, straight edges,

Which enable me to find my world of images and ideas in thought

Before it emerges  on canvas, plexiglass, paper, or wood.

The camera records in a way that is instant, yet capturing that which can be edited

Endlessly and quickly with digital technology, in countless ways.

As in the earliest beginnings of photography almost 200 years ago–

Or earlier if you count the camera obscura used in the Renaissance,

Light is the focus and foundation of all that it has the power to record and transform.

But why do I recognize that it is as valid a tool as any more traditional fine art media?

Because only with the thinking of an artist can it go beyond what the public knows…

Whether it be approached through literature, music, dance, or the rhythm of daily life.

It makes it possible to capture a nanosecond of experiential visualization for further inspection,

To transcend limitations of a time/space continuum…to expand what seems trivial and mundane

Into worlds of creation and imagination that reach beyond mere recording into visionary adventure.

Peter Stilton Tampa November 6, 2019