The morning sun was at a perfect angle, throwing a shadow of a heroic sculpture, depicting a mounted Indian holding a buffalo skull over his head, on to the street. As I tried to photograph this shadow, my own shadow kept appearing in the frame. I finally gave up and changed my concept. I would make the problem into my subject matter. I simply held on to the pedestal of the sculpture with one hand and shot with the other. Fortunately, I was wearing a wide brimmed hat, which, in combination with my photographer’s vest, makes me look very much like a figure out of the Old West. The resulting abstraction speaks more of Santa Fe’s history than it does of either the sculpture itself or myself. Both become symbols of a larger idea.

If you believe in ghosts, there is no better place in Santa Fe to find them than at the historic La Fonda Hotel. Although the present structure dates from 1922, there has been a series of inns and hotels on this site since Santa Fe’s founding in 1607. Executions, murders, and suicides are said to have taken place here over the years, and travelers periodically report ghost sightings in the present hotel. Given its haunted history, I felt obligated to create an image commemorating that aspect of La Fonda’s legend. Although it might have been a lot easier to fabricate a ghostly photo with Photoshop manipulations, I preferred to find my own moment in light and shadow, an actual image expressing a haunted vision. Standing across the street from one corner of the hotel, and using a long lens to draw a crosswalk into the frame as a lead-in to my images, I previsualized the images I would make before I made them – I simply wanted to photograph a series of early morning shadows cast by passing pedestrians on the hotel’s façade. And so I waited and shot, and shot and waited. People often cluttered the crosswalk, and passing cars obliterated some of my favorite shadows. After a half hour of shooting, this image was as close as I would come to imprinting the spirits of the past upon the present structure. The people themselves are well out of the frame, but the low angle of the sun here has etched a vanishing body into the recessed portal – all we can see are his legs and part of his body. Another person, walking just in front of him, and wearing a wide brimmed cowboy hat, is dramatically defined on the wall just to the right of the portal. Their abstracted images have been frozen in time here forever, and in their own one-dimensional way, each has become a Ghost of the La Fonda.

Light cannot be considered in a vacuum. Many factors combine as light brings character and meaning to a photograph. We work simultaneously with light and its counterpart, shadow, to express ideas. The angle and intensity of the light is critical – it determines how those shadows fall, and also affects the color of the light as well. We can build meaning with those colors. We can also take advantage of reflected light, as it paints our subjects in varying colors. Light and shadow also can create mood and atmosphere. It abstracts and reveals, passes through some of our subjects and bounces off of others. This image, made at sunset, offers examples of some of these factors at work. Light and shadow in sharp contrast create the focal point of this image, the group of brownish red buildings, which appear almost three-dimensional because of this lighting. due to the lowering sun coming in strongly from the right to illuminate them. The buildings in the foreground fall into shadow, becoming a massive anchor and bringing a sense of stability to the image. The low angle of the light is warm, bringing rich color and a spiritual glow to this photograph. The color speaks of time and age, very much a part of the character of Bruge itself. The turreted church spire is also defined dimensionally by light and shadow. The delicate hue of the pale blue sky is created by light as well. This image will lodge in the imagination, not because of the content itself, but because of what the interplay of light and shadow does to that content. It reveals the essence of Old Bruges – timeless, spiritual, historical, beautiful and memorable.

When I look for light, I look first at how it falls on the subject. There are infinite differences in the patterns of light and shadow – no two are precisely alike. However there are certain arrangements of light and shadow that offer instant drama. This is one of them – I call it the “slivers of light” pattern. Whenever light and shadow alternate within a very small space, the chance of creating a visually arresting image out of it are there for the asking. All we need is subject matter within that space that carries the potential for expression. In this case, the high mid-afternoon sun was dividing the image into three distinct bands of light and three areas of deep shadow. The sculpture represents a divinity or ruler of some kind. The sun illuminates the scepter at left, half the head and bit of neck and chest in the center, and one arm at right, along with two panels of brickwork behind it. The light is selective and emphatic. Because of it, this image speaks of strength, resolve, and power. The “slivers of light” pattern draws the eye to the subject, part by part, and holds it, demanding our attention and thought.

Marionettes are mediums of expression rooted in illusion. They only seem to come to life when their strings are pulled. Photography bases much of its own expressive power on illusion as well. A photograph, in itself, is no more real than a marionette. Photographs draw their vitality from the interplay of light and shadow, very much as marionettes depend on their strings for energy. I have brought the two mediums together with this picture. Using the interplay of light and shadow, I’ve tried to imply a sense of vitality to both the marionettes and this photographic image of them. It is the variation in the tones of light, the pattern in which it falls on the marionettes, that makes it seem as if these marionettes are behaving as humans. The figure at left is only partially revealed as he seems to rise out of the shadows below him. Because of how it is abstracted by those shadows, we must imagine where this marionette is coming from. The figure at right is even more abstracted by the shadows surrounding it. Because its face is only half illuminated, it, too, seems to springs to life in a way it would not if we could see all of it. The figures are dressed in clothing that reflects light and color, adding still more illusion to the scene. I include very little additional context in the frame. The less seen, the better the illusion.

There is a very large Chinese presence in Yangon. At its heart is Chinatown, a warren of narrow streets piled high with baskets, produce, delicacies, crafts, flowers, songbirds, and crabs. I waited for this preoccupied shopper to walk out of the deep shadows and into this tiny spot of sunlight in order to make this picture. The interplay of light and shadow in this image reinforces the mood, and perhaps the frustrations of the shopper herself. It is the eve of the Chinese New Year, and her expression tells us that she is intently searching for something she needs, yet cannot quite remember what it is, or where she can find it. Maybe she is trying to sort out her options, as well. By surrounding her in darkness, I imply these unknowns – the unanswered questions of a busy shopper.