If you get the chance, please click on the Larry Towell link below. If you do, be sure to wait - there's some commercial stuff before the good stuff begins -- be sure to watch it all the way through. I was fortunate to meet Larry last year. He helped me see the world a little differently -- not so fast - not so frenetic -- but with pace -- with understanding - and most of all - patience. He also helped me to realize the best way to improve my skills - my focus - was to spend time photographing the things closest to me. Because if I can't translate how I feel about what's dearest to me - no one would care or believe much beyond that... I think it was Nan Goldin who suggested she does best photographing her own people -- and Annie Liebovitz does her best work inside her own village...

I never understood any of this - I always thought I had to jump on a plane and travel to the other side of the world and bring back photographs of exotic places - they're nice, but Dorothy was right when she said,"if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with!"

Enjoy your own backyard -- your own living room -- trust me, there's no place like it anywhere else in the world...

Listening to: Yesterday Never Tomorrows - The Stills

Larry Towell