In 2010, at the beginning of two back to back around the world trips, I stopped in Los Angeles to say my last goodbyes to my ex-graduate school advisor and long time good friend who was dying of pancreatic cancer. On the day before my departure, he insisted that I send him photographs so that he could share in my journey. He died shortly thereafter so that I never had a chance to post a single image to him. He and many others are constant reminders that we don’t live forever, that each photograph, whether taken or missed in the passing, is precious.
After being somewhere else, it is always strange but welcome to come home. In those places that I call ‘away’, I am forever attentive to the nuances of what goes on around me. The challenge of course is to maintain that awareness when living the mundane and familiar. In that way, a camera in hand is as good as a ticket on a plane to the remotest of places. I like to keep a small one in my pocket to shoot accidents and incidents while only making minimal intrusions. I also enjoy the power of distance by taking landscapes and seascapes that provide scope to my vision and a sense of place that comes not only from the widest of angles but also from the minute particulars that give each moment and location a distinct identity.
In the last many years, I have shared three places that I can call home, the South Island of New Zealand, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest. Photographing in these areas has kept me constantly surprised at what might appear unexpectedly during the course of a day. The flip side of this surprise, I suppose, is a state of openness to chance encounters that often provide my most satisfying images.
In the last year, my photographs have appeared in articles on various websites and printed material, including The Lonely Planet, Alaska Magazine, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, Seattle PI, Houston Chronicle, among several others. Some of my shots are temporarily contracted to Getty Images and are subject to the restrictions therein, though may still be purchased as numbered fine art prints. As to the rest of my images, they are my exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without my expressed written consent. If you are interested in licensing a specific photo or commissioning a project, send an email to: jlberkow@yahoo.com.