There are common strands  running through all the religions I can think of.  One is that there is one or more god, whether defined or not.  There is also some variation on the golden rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Another is the role of light.  In all these religions light is divine, it is sacred, it signals the presence of God.  For example in Hinduism there is Diwali, a festival of light celebrating the triumph of good over evil.  In Islam “God is the Guardian and Protector of those who believe; He brings them forth from darkness into light.” The Holy Quran [2:257] In Psalm 119: 105 the psalmist proclaims “Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”   Christians learn that Jesus is the light of the world.  I’m sure you can think of many other quotes making the same point.  Light is central to religion and spirituality.

And light of course is central to photography.  In an earlier post I outlined my simple spirituality.  One tenet is that God is in all, all is in God.  So what does that say about photography if light is a gift of God? 

I suppose the answer to that question says a lot about one’s personal theology.  For me  it is a gift to be celebrated.  Picking up a camera and going out at any random time will present several of an infinite range of light offerings.  Good photography can be done in all of them. 

My simple spirituality also says that God continues to create and, we, made in God’s image, can also create.  This is an immensely important point.  It is not that our creations rival those of God’s and it is not important that the creations of some of us are ‘better’ than those of others.  The important point is that we have this ability and in my view we are not complete unless we exercise it.

Many years ago, I was subject to periods of depression.  They weren’t periods of deep depression that many have experienced but they were enough to essentially shut me down emotionally for several hours.  That has stopped and I do not think it is coincidental that as I got into digital photography they receded and disappeared.  I know that I have a need to be creative in my own way and photography is the great opportunity. 

Light is a gift of God, a symbol of the presence of God.  That is something to celebrate.  Photography is a wonderful way of celebrating and expressing gratitude, in part because it can be shared with others.  We’ll say more about that in a later post.

And as Jay Maisel says:

If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you’re not out there, you’ll only hear about it.