The Dark Chamber

I’ve been asked why I’ve chosen the name LightAndShadow.

It’s a good question, and I thought it would make a fine topic for today’s entry.

I began to understand the concept of light and shadow the first time I seriously picked up a camera…the dark chamber. That’s what a camera is, you know. A dark chamber…a sealed black box designed to capture and record the light coming through a tiny opening.

Have you ever seen a picture that’s all “blown out”? Overexposed? So bright that it is basically just a white blob and you can’t tell what it is. All the details are lost if the chamber captures too much light. Conversely, if not enough light gets in, the photograph is too dark. Again, what you see in the picture isn’t accurate - it isn’t true. A photographer has to control the amount of light to ensure there is a sufficient amount of shadow to accurately represent what he/she saw through the lens.

My soul is a dark chamber. It is a dark chamber designed to capture the light without destroying the details hidden in the shadows. I am part Light and part Shadow. Part youthful naiveté and part aged wisdom. Part joyful acceptance of the things life has to offer, and part sorrow at the things it withholds. Everyone has this divided self, but mine is very apparent, and I have to control it in much the same way I have to control the waves passing through the lens of my camera.

I have to consciously, precisely use my relationship with God, my growing understanding of how he works to block some of life’s blinding harshness, and illuminate some of its darkness. LightAndShadow represents the final product…the thing I’m after…a balance of two important qualities. God’s light and my own dark humanity.

Here’s to achieving balance.