An artist once asked me, “Bruce, what’s your favorite photograph.” 

I closed my eyes and imagined my photographs.
 I answered, “I have favorites, of course, but my most favorite image is always the next photograph. 

In this series of images at Awentree I believe a sense of prayer, or astonishment, pervades the photographs
 and I  hope the viewer sees what I see; the wonder, and the awe,
 the beauty and the extraordinary in the ordinary—the gravestone, the statue, the religious icon.

Often, I ask myself  "What am I called to do?"  And "How can I make the world a better place."

To paraphrase Rumi; I remind myself: I need to be permanently astonished.
 The second thing I need is love; draw upon love for vision and energy.
 And the third thing is sacrifice--give the drop that is myself.
 To be astonished, to become more like a child, to be nourished by being amazed—and by giving.

Photography is my passion. The pursuit of wow. This is the way I try to live my life.
 Every where I turn and see I truly am astonished.
 I celebrate life and the spiritual ties that bind us together
and I do this by trying to be always astonished.
Simone Weil said: "Absolute attention is prayer." 

When I photograph an icon I both draw upon my degree in art history
and years working as a documentary photographer
and in a profound sense I also forget the past ,
 turn toward the icon in a prayerful manner and I become truly astonished.  

Tielhard de Chardin wrote: "Seeing: We might say that the whole of life lies in that verb - if not ultimately, at least essentially." 

We design the world by the way we choose to see it.
 I choose to see beauty and  to share that wonder, that astonishment with you. 

Of course, my goal is not to change the world all at once, but one person at a time;
 by reaching out with my eyes wide open--seeing; being astonished;
 mending the part of he world that is within my reach--to bring light where there is darkness.
 Peace and Beauty.