Photography Begins And Ends With Light

Before there is a photograph, there is a place. Before there is a place, there is light.

This chapter sits between land and image, between experience and interpretation. It belongs here because every island story I tell—whether about forests, shorelines, whales, or quiet human traces—begins with how light moves across them. Without light, there is no photograph. Without attention to light, there is no understanding of place.

So I return to the question that anchors this chapter:

Without light, what do you see?