Beth Rose Goin

Whether I have chosen photography or it has chosen me, my relationship with it is based on the inherent truth that a photograph has. The assumption is that if it's in a photograph, it is real. While I envy the gift of creation, my gift is in capturing what I see in the immediate world around me.

I aim to capture the light and shadow the way I see them. The way light falls on an object shapes it, and shadow is the contrast that gives the light the opportunity to form those shapes.  Darkness, however, does not shape anything - it is merely the contrast to the light. When I observe my own life I do not see myself formed in any way by any darkness that I've been in, but I see that that darkness only makes the light more profound.

I find myself coming back again and again in my work to the same place. I see glimpses of the infinite depth and scope of the design of life in every corner of nature. By narrowing in on each subject and highlighting it in bold, visually striking images - using that contrast between the light and shadow, my goal is to place the viewer in an intimate relationship with it. If we can see that limitless design and intention in these prosaic subjects, how much more so in ourselves and those around us.