The Emotion of Motion

The Emotion of Motion. Koi pond, Island of Kauai, Hawaii
Koi pond, Island of Kauai, Hawaii

The Emotion of Motion. There’s something fascinating about visual movement that stirs our souls and creates a visceral response. I’m not referring to the exhilaration of skydiving or skiing down a mountain, but the more subtle visual connections we make while witnessing a dance performed on a stage, watching clouds race across a desert sky, or simply viewing a photograph of a silky waterfall frozen in time.

As photographers we have the privilege of stopping time or even slowing it down just long enough to give our viewers a glimpse of a world that can never be seen with our own eyes. We can illustrate a repetitive process over time such as a series of waves washing upon a shore, or create an abstract vision of color and form that has no resemblance to the natural world.

At these moments, there is a bond that occurs between subject and viewer that’s hard to put into words. Perhaps it’s our secret desire to slow the inevitable march of time or just a sense of voyeurism at seeing something beautiful that we know we shouldn’t be able to. I like to think of it as the emotion of motion.

 

©Russ Bishop/All Rights Reserved