Manifesto
I’ve got an assignment coming up for Sierra magazine that takes place in Hyalite Canyon, not far from my house in Bozeman. So I went up there recently just to look around a little and found this soul ice fishing on the lake. It doesn’t look like much fun to me, but I see lots of people ice fishing, so there must be something to it. Maybe it’s an opportunity to be quiet. Maybe it’s an opportunity to do some good thinking.
On the way home, I did some good thinking, as I’m apt to do while making long exposures of running water. Maybe some ice fisherman saw me and wondered why I thought standing beside a creek on a cold day without a fishing pole was a fun time.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. Refocusing (sorry) on what it is I’m trying to do. And it has led me to come up with a short manifesto, which I’ll share with you now:
A successful picture is one in which the viewer sees themselves.
The more we see ourselves in other people and in other places, the more we will cherish those people and places. But we must trust the truth we feel.
Truth resonates character. Character resonates truth. When we perceive true character, that generates trust.
Done well, photography speaks universally and authentically, overcoming barriers of language and culture and trust. So I choose photography to share true character of people and places.
I want people to see themselves in the people and places I photograph.
I want people to realize we all have more in common than in conflict.
Thomas Lee True West 