Time and place require two main elements; something familiar and something new, both blended together to create a single instant frozen in time. Time and place work together. You rarely find one without the other. If you do, then the photograph misses something in its ability to connect to the viewer. Time and place are elements that bring life and structure to an image. They also add purpose, mystery, and closure in the sense the viewer wants to understand what is there and feel as though they know this place, this moment.
A capture of time and place creates the feeling of having been there, nostalgia you might call it, but simply put they inspire the viewer to remember moments from their past so they can project their feelings and emotions into the image. For instance, take the above photograph of the lightning strike. Most everyone has experienced such events. A capture such as this freezes a microsecond in time in such a way as to allow the viewer to ponder at length everything they can remember about experiencing weather events like this one. There is something familiar here, and there is something new because no two lightning events are the same. You can almost hear the clap of thunder and feel the electricity in the air. It is a specific moment of instance captured at a specific place...although with a bit of mystery surrounding it.
Another image that captures time and place well is the one above taken during the wheat harvest in Kentucky. Again something familiar to most everyone having probably witnessed such events either through video programs or films or possibly in person, yet with something new added...the angle of the lighting, the twists and turns of the wheat stubble rows, the dust flying in the background helping to separate the combine and tractor. Many of us have at one time or another stood next to a wheat stubble field. Places such as those harbor a distinctive aroma, sort of a dusty musty aroma. An image that captures time and place effectively can by its very nature trigger memories of aromas in nature. Time: A well-underway Wheat harvest - Place: Rolling Wheat field.
If you enjoy the outdoors and fishing in particular you will understand the time and place impact of the above image of the fellow fly fishing in a rustic looking creek. Time and place are relatively easy to identify here. Time is set with the fall colors reflection in the water, Place of course is on the creek. Most anyone who has gone fishing can readily identify with this image and again a small creek such as this one carries with it a fragrance unique to a location like that. You can practically hear the whirl of the fishing line, the subtle plop of the lure, and feel the strike of the fish. Combined with the remembrance of a wonderful day afield, we too often overlook Time and Place in our daily lives.
Time and place are not exclusive to what we see and experience here on this planet. They can also be projected into the starry night sky. Time, when invoked here, reflects events that happened a very long time ago...in this case thousands of years in the past as the image is simply a capture of the light that has taken that long to reach us because the distances are so great. Place of course is the Milky Way that spreads across the night sky most visible during a summer evening. How many of us growing up ever lay on blanket in the backyard and watched fireflies light up against the night sky, maybe even catching a glimpse of a shooting star meteor as it streaked across ebony flavor realm of the night. Yeah...me too. Even without the light gathering ability of the camera, on a clear summer evening away from the light pollution of the city, you can see with great clarity the arch of the Milky Way as it stretches across the sky. A time and a place most of us can remember.
Then there are the seasons...what better examples of time and place do we have to photograph.
Capturing Time and Place is certainly an element of photography most of us rarely think much about. In most cases it just happens, but, a photographer can purposely identify and capture these two elements to create a uniquely identifiable yet interestingly new vision of common moments. By doing so, we bring back to life special elements from the past to rekindle memories maybe lying dormant from long ago. A photograph provides a powerful description of the day to day events of our lives. During those times, Time and Place become embedded within our history, and it is remembering our history that makes the photographs worth saving.
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