Memory's talismans

Photographs have the power to transport us back to places we have been, spark memories, and energize the senses. Through my work, I believe I can take people to places they will probably never visit. But those people - amateurs or professionals - who look at the pictures they have made themselves will have their memories stirred.

I can look at someone else's photograph of columbines growing in Colorado and be wowed by the aesthetics of the image.

But when I see my own photograph of Colorado's state flower blooming along the trail to Chasm Lake under Longs Peak, I feel the crisp mountain air and my lungs heaving in the thin atmosphere above 10,000 feet. I scan the sky above Rocky Mountain National Park and wonder when the clouds will build into a threatening storm. I hear a nearby stream gurgling under the beauty of soaring granite walls.

In my mind, I am there again.