Taking photos, like fishing, is a good excuse to go places. It is a better excuse, really, because it takes us everywhere. This January morning it gets me up before sunrise, out of my warm bed into a frigid wind to walk down to the Atlantic Ocean’s edge. I do not see anyone fishing, just a single dark figure gazing east. Even though it is freezing, I dip my hand into the salt water as if to receive a blessing, like dipping one’s hand in the holy water font as one enters a church. I touch something like infinity, water that stretches beyond the horizon. Millions of miles away, the sun soon rises above that horizon, my cue to go back to the hotel and breakfast, then to work inside the rest of the day, taking photos.
Photo just before sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean from Ocean Beach, Maryland.
Photo and text copyright 2018 by Danny N. Schweers.
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Comments from readers
Hugh wrote:
We are made of that water,
Marina wrote:
When I first came to this country, I touched the Pacific Ocean, thinking that this same water touches the land of my birth. Magical thinking, perhaps, but somehow I felt closer to home connecting with parts of me that I felt I was losing.
Rosemary wrote:
Very nice, Danny! Holy water. The blood moon is lurking somewhere, maybe behind you?
Craig wrote:
I like taking photos better because you always get something…. Well, most of the time….
Pat wrote:
Love this whole piece, Danny,; the photograph is glorious and the imagery of your dipping your hand into infinity! Thank you!
Deacon Dottie wrote:
I feel the most spiritual moment, at water's edge, is when the sun starts to show itself on the horizon. That small round globe fills me with hope and feelings of being loved. It is my most sacred moment when God is nearest to the earth.
Tom wrote:
Yes, photography can be like this: calm and broadly contemplative. On the other hand, if one is a war correspondent it can also be white knuckled and laser focused. (Judging by accounts. I haven't been there.) It seems there is an allure for one or the other according to how we're wired. And lots more in between.
Dave wrote:
Beautiful - even quotable :) "Taking photos, like fishing, is a good excuse to go places. It is a better excuse, really, because it takes us everywhere. "