Each life is a journey of geography, learning and spiritual development; I feel fortunate that my life has included healthy doses of each. As a traveler I seek out destinations of great natural beauty and spiritual power and that I hope will challenge me in some way. As a photographer I try to capture and convey not only the visual, but the emotional energy of each place. I have succeeded only if the viewer feels as though they have had an experience beyond that of simply looking at a photograph.
Let me be clear: I am a traveler who makes photographs, rather than a traveling photographer. I acknowledge and commend the real professionals those whose livelihood depends on covering events and completing assignments day after day -- I never want making photographs to sound so much like work!
Fortunately, I don't subscribe to the idea that you have to make a living doing something in order for it to have merit. I have a sharp eye, good camera and post-processing technique, and a broad range of interests (geography, geology, history, politics, philosophy, and so on) that inform my work. Coupled with a willingness to cart heavy gear to remote places, I feel like I bring something worth sharing to the table.
Although many of my photographs document a time and place, I am not a photojournalist. I use a range of post-processing techniques that enhance the data captured by the camera sensor to help better convey the visual and emotional experience I had of being there. If the effect is sometimes surreal, it is because the experience was surreal.
Over the past decade I have amassed a sizable collection of raw material with the intent of someday refining and sharing the best of it with others. The images available on www.bstrattonphotography.com represent the beginning of this effort, with much more to follow.