As I drove through dirt roads of the Kaibab National Forest and saw how much had been burned, much like the Santa Catalinas near where I live, I was filled with a sadness – life was destroyed.  And yet, in a microcosmic way, we are constantly dying and being reborn.  Each breath we take, our bodies tear down and rebuild.  Each moment, thought pass through our mind and are gone.  Just as the forest was renewing with these young saplings, life goes on.  Life is hard, but it moves on.  Stasis is never good. We hurt more when we hold on to that which was.

You are reading a blog posting from the photographer Laurent Baig. See more work at his website.

Guy Tal has a very thought-provoking post which is incredibly similar to a reading I did last night by Osho.  They used slightly different terms:

Osho             Guy Tal
Happiness  = Contentment
Pleasure     = Happiness

I prefer Osho’s terms in terms of connotation, but that’s simply semantics. I use Osho’s terms following.

We as individual people suffer, so we seek that which can ease our suffering. Pleasure can ease that suffering. It’s why people seek sex. It’s why some photographers gravitate towards iconic subjects. There’s an immediate satisfaction and emptying of the past and future from the mind while one focuses on the present for a short time. And then for a short while, we feel good because we’ve done exactly that…existed in the here and now.

Both Guy and Osho say to move beyond that.  Find that existence and awareness of the here and now without the external influences – Guy on photography, Osho on life – and then happiness wells from within.  If we study the effects of pleasurable things, really study it, we might see that the glimpses of happiness truly come from within and the object of pleasure is simply a key to unlock the door of our own delusions.

So the answer to the question is that I photograph what I photograph because I’m trying to discover the here and now, to be present.  Photography for me is a tool to free myself. I’m not trying to create art…not anymore…I’m trying to exist, to be, and opening myself to that which is around me.  The earth and photography is one of my tools.

You are reading a blog posting from the photographer Laurent Baig. See more work at his website.

Setting sun illuminates saguaros during monsoon in San Pedro river valley.

I’m pleased to announce that I will have two images displayed for the next month for the show “Weather & Seasons” at Sundust Gallery.  This image is one of them. If you happen to be in Mesa, AZ, please stop by and check it out.

You are reading a blog posting from the photographer Laurent Baig. See more work at his website.

You are reading a blog posting from the photographer Laurent Baig. Feel the wilderness experience.

I’ve also been fascinated with the patterns that blue fir’s make with their needles. I constantly try to seek out “rhythms” in these blue fir waves, so to speak, and here I found them to be a nice backdrop for this young aspen sapling.

You are reading a blog posting from the photographer Laurent Baig. Feel the wilderness experience.

I’m always fascinated with the reds of Ponderosa pines. As I was driving in the Kaibab national forest, I found several areas where the pines had the rich red bark which I’ve always wanted to make an image of.  I was on my way to Fire Point, when the light changed on me and made the colors come alive with a soft glow.  It happened right at this scene and I immediately pulled over and took a quick digisnap on my Canon G9 to check composition and rendering.  It looked good, so I pulled out the 4×5 to make this image.

You are reading a blog posting from the photographer Laurent Baig. Feel the wilderness experience.

Pumphouse Wash, Arizona

I was chilling out during a monsoon earlier this summer.  The rain let up so I walked about a bit.  Colors always seem to be a bit more vibrant after it rains and I was curious what I’d find. I stood over the edge of Pumphouse and soaked in the fresh moist air and then ran back to my truck to get my camera.  The sun was playing peekaboo through the clouds and low lying mist was washing through the…well, wash.  I exposed one sheet of film and kept my fingers crossed (as I always do) on how it might turn out.

You are reading a blog posting from the photographer Laurent Baig. Feel the wilderness experience.

It’s been really hot lately and I’ve been longing for some cooler temps.

You are reading a blog posting from the photographer Laurent Baig. Feel the wilderness experience.

A pair of aspen boles on the west side of the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona. This is a new scan for a print that will be 16×20″.  Be sure to back up your work. I lost all my files when my hard drive crashed several months ago.  Ironically, I was about to back everything up onto another hard drive when it did crash. It sucks to have to re-create it all.  And, in fact, you will never re-create something.  A re-work is always a re-interpretation which means, if you lose your digital files, you lose your interpretation.

You are reading a blog posting from the photographer Laurent Baig. Feel the wilderness experience.

I guess it’s been a while since I’ve made a post.  I could say I’ve been busy. I’d be lying.  I’ve just been unmotivated. Why?  Leg injury and a windy desert.  I get tired of the wind and I get tired of it blowing all the freaking time, which it seems like it does here in Tucson.  I have another excuse.  My scanner broke.  It’s hard to get motivated to go make images when you can’t share them.  At least, it’s hard for me.  I like to share.  I like to show people the beauty of the earth – at least, I like to show it the way I see it.  So my scanner’s been broke, I got a bum hamstring, and it’s been freaking windy.

Well, I got the scanner fixed, my leg is getting better, the wind hasn’t died, but I made a scan and decided it’s time to get going again.  This image is from last fall. I was wandering around the San Juans on a lovely cool morning and this warm light was filtering through the aspen leaves and softly lighting this patch on the ground.  I was completely captivated.

You are reading a blog posting from the photographer Laurent Baig. Feel the wilderness experience.