de·cay

/dəˈkā/

verb

(of organic matter) rot or decompose through the action of bacteria and fungi.

"the body had begun to decay"

noun

the state or process of rotting or decomposition.

"hardwood is more resistant to decay than softwood"

My primary focus in photography has been to capture the beauty I see in nature but lately I’ve been intrigued by a less traditional view of beauty and I’m excited to see how this newfound focus develops (pun is intentional).  Evolution is a force that shapes our world and there is a beauty to be found in the cyclical nature of life and death.  Life is beautiful, but eventually it decays, which leads to death, which leads to new life. Our very bodies are comprised of matter that came from the death throes of stars millions of years in the past.  We build magnificent structures that begin their inexorable decline the day after the grand opening, and we see the evidence of that today in the ruins of civilizations that thought they were eternal.

We can experience this cycle in our own lives as well when we experience a loss.  A chronic illness forced me to retire early from a career I loved but that led me to photography which likely would not have happened without the decaying of my body and the death of my dream job.  It can also be found in the spiritual realm for those of us that are people of faith.  Many of us go through a deconstruction phase where we question (and often discard) assumptions about our faith, and it can feel like our faith is dying.  In my case, it was a healthy decay of nonessentials to my faith, and I came through that process with a reinvigorated faith that is more robust, less brittle and focused more on loving God and people and less on clinging to doctrine and dogma.

Decay is the transition process from life to death and in this portfolio I want to capture the beauty in that process that leads to new life.  You can click on any image below to see a larger size.