Photographer Tim Brown
Story + Interview by Dawn Garcia
Inspired by the magnificent images of Tim Brown
We are not alone. Nor are we absent of space and time, emotion or truth.
We are infinitely surrounded by beauty and warmth in spite of shadows cast or the thick fog of doubt creeping into wrangle us down to the ground. We are on an adventure. The kind where our inner fearless child shakes off worry and places our feet on the bottom of a cart, seemingly idle and we see the greatest ride of our lives. Our feet rest on the bar underneath, our hands grip the cold bar above, one leg pushes off and without hesitation, we feel the air brushing past our cheeks, the brisk whisper of freedom liberating our very soul, and we feel, as if a magical pull has grasped into our cheeks, we feel each corner of our mouth curling upward until, without pause, our entire being is smiling.
After seeing the image above and feeling the flow of words take hold, I took a moment to get inside the mind of photographer, Tim Brown.
1. Tell me what you believe is one of the most essential aspects of life.
Life. Happiness. Perseverance. Love. Kindness. And to believe … Without happiness, it’s more difficult to persevere. And until we’ve persevered, how can we find love? And once we have love, we can hold onto it with kindness and believing.
2. What image opened your eyes photographically?
I can’t say as if a single image did. I believe it was more in the creation of images. Growing up, watching my father create and capture images; How easy it was for him to just lay out a shot in a way that simply “looked good”… It was that creative process that always appealed to me. That, and burning through rolls of his film capturing some of the worst images ever taken of little bids at the bird feeder. I mean, picture it. A 7 year-old boy trying to hold a 35 mm camera with a 300mm zoom lens that was about 3/4 the length of my arm.
3. A movie you watch over and over.
Just one? How about any Wes Anderson movie. The Life Aquatic. The Royal Tenenbaums. Moonrise Kingdom. Darjeeling Express.
The angles. The shots. Actually, I recently shot an engagement session where the couple and I went out to an island outside of Boston and themed the session around his [Anderson’s] style. Wide angle shots and the like. It’s actually how I enjoy shooting in general and I just dig his movies in general. That style isn’t for everything though. The way he creates movies is sort of like black licorice. You either love it or hate it.
4. A meal you’ll never forget.
A great #breakfast of poached eggs and potatoes! So great that I now have a poacher just so I can attempt to recreate it.
5. What does “ALONE ” mean to you?
Solitude. The ability to walk into the unknown forced to believe in yourself. And that you, YOU, truly are stronger than any obstacle which may be thrown in your way. Fear. The absence of ______? And being just one, a small piece of something larger, which together creates an incredible beauty, yet a beauty we can create when we’re alone all the same.
6. What is beautiful?
Everything. No, really. Everything. There is beauty in every little piece of the world around us and inside of us. Even in death, there can be beauty. However, if you need a more stringent answer, I guess creating something where I see beauty where others may not – Till they see what’s there in front of them. Like an image of a lonely cart in the middle of a parking lot, fogged in. The distance unknown. There is beauty right there … Right freakin’ there.
7. What does a typical day look kike for you when you’re shooting?
When shooting a wedding, HAH! Controlled chaos. That’s the key. Controlled chaos. I love – LOVE. Capturing weddings. No matter if they’re in Florida or Main, Oregon or NYC. Each wedding is a blessing, filled with moments that so many don’t even know happened until they see what I have created. “Shooting” the other stuff, generally it’s a random adventure or a sudden stop of the car needing to capture that moment. I never realized it, until recently that is, that there are so many incredible moments that I am looking at as though I am capturing it. Thankfully for some of those moments, I don’t have a camera handy. Other times though, I do. And it’s just something that happens. Rarely do I find myself “looking” for a photo. Maybe they look for me?????
Tim Brown is a storyteller. His lens and his ideology lend to the way the world becomes more colorful.
Follow ATOD Magazine™
