Light and time

‘Favourite’ is a word I use a lot. There is so much I enjoy in the natural world and amongst the fruits of human culture, that I find myself talking about favourite beaches, parks, bush walks, books, music, foods, museums, artists … the list goes on.

What I’ve come to realise is that communicating my enjoyment is a pleasure in itself — a favourite thing in fact.

For most of my life, communicating has meant writing, and I still take great care to craft words that will resonate with and spark a response in readers. But increasingly, my words are supplemented (and sometimes replaced) by images.

So on this day (if you ask me tomorrow I might have a different view), my favourite thing is photography. The photographer Elliot Erwitt conveys the feeling well:

To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them. — Elliott Erwitt

The title of this post comes from the wonderful art critic and painter, John Berger

What makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are light and time. – John Berger

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge | favourite things