Autumn Reflections: Photography by Doug Jonas
Taking a photograph is not a simple art. It requires a unique perspective to understand how to frame and compose a shot. Additionally, photographers must keep up with constantly changing technology and edit their images to perfection. This involves continuous effort over days, all aimed at bringing an exhibit to life in the end.
Pierce Cedar Creek Institute draws a large crowd of unique talents, from researchers and scientists to artists, painters, and photographers. The staff at PCCI is no different. Doug Jonas, Finance Director at PCCI, uses his unique perspective to capture and preserve the ever-changing landscape at the Institute.
“I’ve found photography to be a great way to slow down and see, and to allow seeing to become a deeper experience. I’m fascinated by signs of constant change as time and nature influence a space over repeated visits. We’re gifted with a remarkable cascade of change in our Michigan seasons, and I love to take note in my surroundings of the remnants of past or seeds of future seasons.
I went out on the trails after work on an early Wednesday evening in mid-September, and the conditions were spectacular, so conducive to slowing down, wanting to suspend time’s passing ~ blue sky, still wind, lengthening September shadows, and everything changing.
Occasionally, I’m reminded of possibilities beyond looking and seeing. I’m often insulated from my surroundings, absorbed in the physical experience of walking for exercise, the rhythm of breath and footfalls, or preoccupied with thoughts. With the camera as a tool for slowing down, there are moments when those matters drop away, and my awareness opens to the reality that I’m intimately part of the scene despite not being in the frame.
The writer and philosopher Iris Murdoch referred to ‘an occasion for unselfing’, and I share this passage as it expresses the experience well: “I am looking out of my window in an anxious and resentful state of mind, oblivious of my surroundings, brooding perhaps on some damage done to my prestige. Then suddenly, I observe a hovering kestrel. In a moment, everything is altered. The brooding self with its hurt vanity has disappeared. There is nothing now but kestrel. And when I return to thinking of the other matter, it seems less important. And of course this is something which we may also do deliberately: give attention to nature to clear our minds of selfish care.”
Out on the dry sand prairie on the white trail that evening, I came out from under the forest canopy and stood along with the bur oaks and prickly pears under the blue sky in the stillness. Memories of the long, hot, passing summer were all around in the green leaves and the songs of crickets, and long shadows from the declining sun hinted at winter to come. Seeing this way can become an opening to curiosity, dropping expectations and conventional patterns of thought, and rediscovering the joy of wonder and not-knowing.
Every picture is an approximation of the time and place where it was captured. I hope that in showing them together in this way, they may express some of the feelings of being out there that night, in that unique and never-to-be-repeated slice of time.”
– Doug Jonas
Below is a video showcasing more of Doug’s beautiful photos from his outing on September 17. Take a moment to watch, slow down, and enjoy the beauty of Michigan in the fall.
Pierce Cedar Creek Institute is a place where wonder and nature intersect effortlessly and beautifully, inspiring appreciation not only for the land we enjoy but also for the work being done to preserve it for future generations.
The trails are open 365 days a year and can be used from dawn to dusk. Come in and see the Visitor Center from 9 am – 5 pm Monday through Friday. Soak in the wonderment that is on all the trails at PCCI.
See you on the trails,
Pierce Cedar Creek Institute Team