A Vision Shared

Provided by: David Hessell

I teach photography part-time at a small community college in Hudson, North Carolina. My "real" job is that of a Special Education teacher, but for the past five years I have combined my passions for photography, travel, and motorcycles into a "third" career as a motorcycle adventure photographer/writer. It has turned out to be a great way for me to express myself doing what I love to do. I began by writing a motorcycle photography column for the BMW OWNERS NEWS, which lead to holding photography workshops and seminars around the country at the National Rallies From there, I began writing travel articles for ROADBIKE magazine, which then lead to motorcycle adventures in the Alps, Canada, Mexico, Norway, and a second trip to the Alps this past summer. I enjoy what I do and have a passion to share it with others. Which leads me back to my photography classes at the college.

I first met Jack Daulton in my Saturday class in 1995. As I always say, anyone willing to meet at 9am on a Saturday morning to learn photography is halfway there. Jack was pretty much there and ready to take that next big step - that of a free-lance photographer. In fact, it was Jack that introduced me to OUR STATE: Down Home in North Carolina, the state magazine. The fact that neither of us was actually from North Carolina never entered the picture. Jack and his wife moved here from Indiana in 1992, a year before my wife and I settled here from ... well, lets just say my wife served ten years in the military and we lived in a number of placed, but we grew up in up-state New York. I had never heard of the magazine but we talked about submitting work to magazines in general and that the most important aspect is to just submit the work in the first place, take that "first step". I believe Jack went first, I followed.

Jack's first step was a very successful one to say the least. Over the years he has three covers to his credit and numerous images inside the magazine. His "real" job is that of a social worker, but as a free-lancer, he is one of the magazine's top contributors. He has also become well known in the area for his intimate look at nature and has become heavily involved in two local camera clubs and a regular award winner at Grandfather Mountain's annual Nature Photography Weekend held in June. His most recent success has come in the form of an image being published in OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHER magazine, in my opinion, the finest photography magazine on the market.

He is also a regular guest speaker at my college classes. From student to teacher, Jack has come full circle and continues to work on his craft. As I viewed Jack's recent work, the notion of "Shared Vision" entered my mind. Even if the subjects are different, the vision was the same. Photography is not so much of what you see as it is on how you see it.

Although I am also a contributor to OUR STATE magazine, much of my recent work evolves around my old passions: motorcycles, travel, and photography. I bought my first motorcycle in 1970 and took my first cross-country motorcycle adventure in 1973, the same year I received my first camera as a high school graduation present. That was when and where my third "career" began, although it would take another twenty-five years to come full-circle.

In the meantime, I had joined the Marines, gone off to college, gotten married, learned photography, became a photographer for the Department of the Army (as a civilian), worked as a free-lance photographer, and received a Master's degree in photography while living near Chicago. It took awhile, but I too, have come full-circle.

That is the one aspect of "Shared Vision" that is not obvious, the fact that both Jack and I share more than just a "vision", or a way of seeing the world. We share a passion that has taken us years to shape and to get to where we are today. It is more than just a "vision", it is the passion that pushes us to succeed, and the willingness to take that extra step, or in our cases, that extra frame over and over again.

The goal of any photographer is to make a personal statement on any one aspect of life that comes before the camera or envisioned with a camera. For many times, what is before the artist and what is seen through the camera are totally different. In fact, that is the beauty of using a camera. No matter how new a camera is or how advanced the technology is, it is still just a tool. It is, and always will be, the person behind the camera that dictates the final outcome; it is just a matter of being able to predict what that outcome will be. Taking a picture is as simple as pushing a button. Making an image, on the other hand, involves all that goes on before pushing that button.

What Jack Daulton and I share is simple. In truth, that is what we share, simplicity. Look at our images and I hope you come away with one thing: Both photographers keep it simple. One of my favorite quotes that I have posted on my bulletin board at school is "The greatest artist is the simplifier". That is the vision that Jack and I share. It really is that simple. It is not so much what we photograph, it has everything to do with how we photograph it.

Email questions, comments or inquiries to: David Hessell davidhessell@yahoo.com

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