Chance Illuminations

Written on 3:56 PM by Jack B.

A friend of mine considers himself first and foremost an “artist” (of the paint and easel kind), but while he’s getting his M.F.A. in Art, he’s taken to photography to pay the bills. Often while working he will take literally dozens of photos, click, click, click, right after the other. Most of them are beautiful since he has a fine eye for color and perspective, but he doesn’t really keep them since he thinks of the photos as part of his “job” and not part of his “art”.

So, if he doesn’t want them occasionally I’ll ask if I can have them. Especially the ones he didn’t mean to take, when the camera just keeps clicking after you’ve taken your finger off the button. Those lucky moments, taken by chance, when the light and shadows collide to create something compelling, illuminating the photo far beyond its subject matter.

Here are three of the ones I like in particular that, to me, have that kind of abstract aesthetic appeal.


When it comes to taking pictures light sometimes plays tricks on us, being exactly where we don’t want it to be at any given moment. Sometimes, however, I think it knows better than we do.