TITLE: Lotus Pond

There is a lotus pond south of a small town in Rhode Island along the route I drive regularly. Every summer, starting in late June and running into early September, locals and tourists visit the pond, arriving in automobiles, vans, and even buses to see the flowers. These images are part of a project to document a full-year cycle of the pond. From the first leaves emerging in the spring, the flowers blossoming in summer, the decline and decay in late fall, and finally the snow and ice of winter.

AUTHOR: Reed Pike (United States)

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, I managed to survive the tumult and excesses of the “sex, drugs and rock & roll” era. Among many adolescent passions, there were two, photography and bicycles, that survived into adulthood. I briefly attended the Academy of Art in San Francisco to study photography, but the cost and other considerations led me to enlist in the US Navy as a photographer. After six years of taking photographs for Uncle Sam, I took a position as a photographer and graphic artist in the Department of Structural Biology at Stanford University.

Ultimately, making images for a living tamped down my passion for photography. I struggled to overcome my GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) and the never-ending search for the perfect film, format, developer, paper or technique that would make my images stand out. I should have been more focused on what I was making images of and why – the subject, composition and what I was trying to communicate. This focus on gear and technique led to frustration and disappointment – I never found my muse. I quit my job and except for the occasional “happy snap,” I did not take a photograph for nearly 25 years.

Then in the late 2000s, I purchased an iPhone, and suddenly, taking photographs was fun again. It was all new and digital. There was no waiting to see your image, no mess, no chemicals. My passion was renewed. From that point on, I have been working to develop my knowledge and skills in digital photography. It is a process, a journey, to create images that tell a story, images that are intentional and represent what I saw and the feelings and emotions I felt when I was “in the moment.” This process, this journey will probably continue for the rest of my life. If so, I would be content. The challenge could not be more significant or more satisfying.