Habitual Seeing

Photography, if practiced with high seriousness, is a contest between a photographer and the presumptions of approximate and habitual seeing.

-John Szarkowski

I read John Szarkowski extensively through my time as a photography student in the 1990s. He was the director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City for almost 30 years (1962-1991). This quote, and others, helped form my photographic philosophies.

Idaho is known for its majestic, abundant mountains with tall pine trees and jagged peaks. They’re one of our blue chip, postcard assets. Like a Bob Ross painting everywhere you go. But here in the treasure valley are the foothills. They’re easily overlooked and often disparaged as brown, unimpressive and boring. Habitual seeing can make any landscape almost disappear to the people who live inside it. 

I’ve walked every dirt road and trail possible in the foothills with a large format camera on my shoulder, seeking to capture the subtle beauty of these velvety hills.

This photograph, taken early one morning in July, 2019 has the sense of place I’m looking for. The delicate contours and texture are highlighted by the early morning summer sun. This photograph is especially effective when printed large, every blade of grass contributes to the overall sense of place it achieves.  

The job of an artist is to show what others can’t or stopped seeing. Humans have an almost unlimited capacity to overlook what’s right before us.