The Story Behind "The Spaces In Between" Exhibit

“As an environmental photographer my goal is to capture the “it” moment, the “decisive moment” in nature, touching viewers deeply. Each photograph reflects the feelings I experience, arrested by the fragile beauty and wonder that is nature expressed by its light, colors, textures, structures and patterns. Ultimately, it is my intent to raise awareness of endangered and threatened habitats and species that we stand to lose in the natural world if we are not careful.”
~Phoenix
 
For me, every time I step out into nature, I feel myself drawn into the spaces in-between. These are the moments in time when I seem to shift internally from doing to being. It’s unconscious. Something in nature draws my attention… that golden sunrise waterscape, blazing sunset landscape, majestic bird-in-flight, animal’s eye connecting with me, the Milky Way over a mountain ridge and more that will never be re-created. I pause. The world seems to stop and I flow into another place, dimension, a transcendent space, that space in-between. This space seems to move me from mentally taking photographs to intuitively being one with my subject suspended in awe and wonder. I’ve moved from the outer space -- physically, mentally and technically of preparing equipment and gear, planning, visualizing, traveling and even adjusting camera settings -- to the inner space of being present to what is. It is a meditative moment. It is here that I see, feel, intuit and am one in the flow. It is here that I’m guided how, what and where to see the soul of my subject through my camera’s lens. It is here that the magic happens.
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Just for that sliver of time, for that precious moment, I unconsciously slip into that space in-between seeing, feeling, responding with new eyes from an awakened soul. These are the moments and photographs that take my breath away, freeze time and touch my heart. These are the moments I share to evoke a feeling, touch the viewer from the outside-in bringing a sense of awe, peace, healing, oneness, upliftment, inspiration and often a heightened sense of knowing and even insight. These are the images shared in this exhibition, The Spaces In-Between. 

Pictured Above: Alaskan Sunrise, 24x36" (newest piece exhibited this year)