The Slow Way

I wanted to see him better, that’s all. I wanted to see more facets and learn more things. This takes time, I know. There’s no immediate gratification in the process. But it is more gratifying to know someone better. The slow way is the better way. Conversations take time to unfold.

I realize that this may not be what people want. This is the age of the Selfie, the Instagram feed. We want to digest things quickly. But that’s not how digestion works. Perhaps I’m fighting a battle I can’t win. I’m not sure I’m fighting at all, but I do believe in true connection; which cannot occur in a flash. I believe in taking the time to know a person. And there’s no reason why the power of the web to display and retrieve information can’t help.

The process begins with a photograph which is also a form of conversation, or it can be. For me it is. It can be as simple as sitting in your office or adventurous as meeting on a mountain top like I did with Marshall above. It doesn’t have to be dramatic. The important thing is that we respect one another, and we show that respect by listening.

I did nine ODEs for Marshall, which is probably overkill but I wanted to prove it could be done. Not everyone needs so many facets shown. In fact most ODEs I’ve done show only one (photograph). Each image you see above is available as its own unique cipher, it’s own consumable chunk, and taken together they provide a window into a human being that it more personal than a social media page, more nuanced than a LinkedIN profile.

It’s been two years since I did this one and I’ve only done one other like it. I will be talking about that soon. I will continue to make these as long as people show interest and let me. If you or someone you know would like to talk about creating an ODE - be it multi-panel or just one - talk to me. To see more ODEs go to https://www.thelighthouse.photography/ode-gallery