James Phillips Photography

Just had the interesting experience of being asked to do a nature shoot for Mosaic, one of the most environmentally destructive companies in Florida. Sometimes you just have to say no.

In a recent submission to another site, I was asked some fundamental questions. The administrator wanted to know my goals, current projects, and what inspired me, basic questions every serious photographer must confront. I realized the answers had evolved since the last time I considered them. How would you have answered?

Goals: Nature photography can have a profoundly positive influence when it engages the viewer. My goals are to reveal the fragile beauty of Florida’s wild lands, and to communicate their value and irreplaceability to as wide an audience as possible. To this end I hope to work as long as I’m able, to continue to hone my craft, and to continue to have my work published, exhibited, and collected.

What I’m working on now: I’m gathering photos for a monograph of Florida landscapes. The working title is “Intimate Landscapes, Visions of Florida’s Wild Lands.” To keep the work fresh, I’m visiting new locations and exploring alternative techniques, including panoramas, multiple exposures, and infrared photography. I’m also developing a line of greeting cards based on images from the book.

Inspiration: It comes from lots of sources, some of them unlikely. It could be the cinematography of Akira Kurosawa or a painting by Cezanne. I admire and am moved by the photographic works of Elliot Porter, Bruce Heinemann, Fay Godwin, and Shinzo Maeda. There are a thousand others as well, not all of them landscape photographers. As Lee Friedlander said, “The pleasures of good photography are the pleasures of good photography.” While I gravitate towards images of the land, the subject, ultimately, isn’t paramount. Craftsmanship can elevate the most mundane subject matter.

Inspiration is fine, but discipline is key. You have to rise early. You have to attend, no matter how long the drive or how far the hike. When the location is right, when conditions are right, the land speaks loudly for itself. Photographers have a phrase for the decisive moment when light and spatial relationships intersect in a manner pleasing to the eye: “f8 and be there.” Landscape photographers may use a different aperture, but the principle is the same: be there, be mindful, respond to the unfolding beauty, and to the best of your ability, convey the wonder.

Work is nearly complete on a new line of greeting cards, titled “The Intimate Wilderness,” to be marketed in stores and here on the website. The first edition includes three landscapes and one closeup image chosen to convey the quiet, fragile majesty of natural Florida. I hope to have them ready to ship by mid-January. Please check back.

Not even winter yet and already it seems like we’ve wandered into a lost episode of Sgt. Preston Of The Yukon. Hopefully it will warm up soon. Here in central Florida, the winter months are a time of ground fog and denuded cypress. The swamps are spooky and evocative. Morning mists seep down the banks, blanketing the rivers, shot with golden beams.

Time to pressure wash the canoe and give it a fresh coat of Rustoleum. Looking forward to paddling Cockroach Bay, the Withlacoochee, or maybe the Myakka. Looking forward to spring.

The TRA Gallery is open from noon to 3:00 Tuesday through Sunday, located at the Old Hyde Park Art Center, 705 Swann Ave. Phone: 813 251 3780. This is a group show, including the work of members and non-members.

Thanks once again to Sarasota Magazine for using my work to illustrate next month’s “Only in Sarasota” feature.

According to author Tim Ohr, World Publications’ latest pictorial softcover guidebook, “Florida’s Fabulous Historic Places,” will be published early next year. It’s been several years in the making, and promises to be another best selling edition to the “Florida’s Fabulous” series. This time around, Tim was kind enough to list me as one of several contributing authors. Many thanks, Tim. Can’t wait to check it out.

Folks, we install the John F. Germany Library Kotler Gallery exhibit tomorrow morning. It includes 15 color landscapes, some old, some new. The show will run through the month of August. The reception is August 12, from 5:30 to 7:00. If you’re in the neighborhood, please check us out!

Many thanks to Sarasota Magazine (see Print media links) this month for using our work on the cover, and to illustrate a feature article by John McCarthy called Night Magic, about kayaking the creeks and mangroves of beautiful Sarasota Bay.

We’ve booked two new photo exhibits for this year. Throughout the month of August, our work will be on display in the Kotler Gallery, on the 2nd floor of the John F. Germany Library in downtown Tampa. In October and November, we’ll be at the Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center. The exhibits include a mix of old and new images. Please drop by and sign the guest book!