The question, here, is not what do you like, but what do you love to do?

   One way to tell  is to look at my cousin Terry's love of fly fishing. He does not just like to catch fish. He loves the whole experience – searching for the best spot, selecting the right fly, pulling on his boots, standing in the waist deep water & more. This kind of passion enables him to put up with the irritations of snagged lines & days when no fish take the bait. In the freezing Massachusetts winters a favorite pastime of his is to tie flies, add a poem, mount & frame the combination & give it as a gift. 

   "Woman & Waterfall" is not just a snapshot to me. It is the shadows, the texture of hat & hair, the sound of the waterfall. Photography means "light writing." This is a moment when light was written.

   My passion for photography (& motion pictures) runs back to childhood. But when, at six, I gazed in fascination at pictures taken with my Brownie camera I did not think photography could be an art form.

   Now, that concept is well accepted by museums & schools of art & I have been honored to have pictures exhibited in both. Even though my career pulled me into courtrooms & hospitals, my passion has always been present. My camera was with me constantly – in my car & office & around my neck as I photographed prisoners in jail & patients in hospital rooms.

   In 2010 photography, film making, poetry & music composition became my full time work. But the poetry I write & music I compose are usually in support of pictures. I spend each weekday in my gallery. 

   Beyond the work you do (that I hope you also love) what is your passion? I have often been surprised when adults cannot name anything.

   Pick something & dive deep. Your life's diamonds cannot be found on the surface.

-Erie Chapman

Photograph: "Woman & Waterfall" by Erie