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Wallace Nutting Photograph
‘ve always liked pathways. Roads, lanes, avenues, trails, footpaths. If you look through my photo albums you’ll see examples from almost every place we’ve travelled. I tend to favor those that wind a little, lead the eye around a corner, or disappear over a rise.
I’m also drawn to gates, and doorways. But they’re best when they’re open, even if only a crack.
These are simply images that catch my interest; I’m attracted to the form; I like the way paths and gateways lead my eye, and my imagination, into the image – and beyond. But I’m also certain that it’s the undiscovered story that draws me in; the unspoken, the unfinished, the unrestricted invitation to journey and to take the road less often travelled by.
NUTTING: That’s why Rebekah’s special gift this Christmas resonates at such a deep level. She knows I love pathways; she knows I love photography; she knows I love stories. So when she ran across this image by famed photographer Wallace Nutting (1861-1941), she knew she had the perfect Christmas gift and she knew she had scored in a huge way.
Nutting, for the uninitiated, was a New England minister and photographer who employed colorists to hand paint his photographs. He could stand in the same spot as a hundred other people and be the only one with the eye to frame the perfect photograph. My Nutting is unique in that it is signed both by the photographer and the colorist.
The pathway in the picture, a wooded lane framed by tall birch trees, tails off invitingly around a subtle turn in the road. To me, it beckons, “Check out this road… grab your camera, put your backpack over your shoulder, lace up your hiking boots, and see where it leads….”
INVITATION: For me, 2013 stands as an open invitation to do just that.
The New Year is a great, uncharted landscape of possibilities. This life continues to be a great adventure. But we’re not stepping out blind, or unreferenced; because, “God’s Word is a lamp that helps guide my feet, it’s the illumination of truth that sheds light on all my pathways…”
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.
Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path” (Psalm 119:103-105)
Then, from Judges 18:
Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.”The priest answered them, “Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.” (Judges 18:5-6)
Peace, promise, and joy on the journey – DEREK
