I Hate People

Well, I say that periodically, and there’s some truth in it, but I’ve been thinking about the flip side of that quip lately.

I do love the solitude and peace that landscape photography provides. Sometimes I think the photography is secondary.

But, you know, quite a few opportunities have appeared because I can use a camera and am curious. Through photography I've learned about peoples' passions. I started thinking about this during the Hashknife Pony Express shoot last week. Groups of people are devoted to their enthusiasm and photography blesses me with a way to glimpse that world.

The next example that popped up was shooting hoop dancers at the Heard Museum as part of an Arizona Highways Photoscapes workshop. I particularly appreciated meeting the Jensen family. Kailayne was five years old here. Now she’s 12 and won the junior division of the Hoop Dance World Championship this month. Her brother Tyrese is a many-time champ as well. He took second this year.

The eagle hunters of Western Mongolia are devoted to keeping their spectacular brand of falconry alive. Without photography I probably never would have landed there last fall and gloriously immersed myself in that culture.


Rotary has put me in touch with some heart-warming humanitarian projects and the dedicated people who move them forward. There’s microcredit in Nogales Mexico, an orphanage in South Africa, and wheelchair distribution to the poor in Hermosillo.

 

And, of course, there’s the Guatemala Literacy Project which keeps my husband and me returning over and over.
 

Some of you might recall a morning I spent with the desert tortoise experts from Arizona Game and Fish, clambering around in the Tonto Forest helping with their population survey.

 

Finally, after 15 years as a medical volunteer at Camp Not-A-Wheeze, I was able to spend a couple of sessions as camp photographer, highlighting the dedication of those who pulled it together and sharing the fun the campers were having. I played a similar role at Rotary’s RYLA leadership camp for teenagers.

You’re not likely to find me shooting weddings any time soon, but you might convince me that people are not always so bad, especially the passionate ones.