One of my favorite things about the last couple seascapes I’ve released is the memories I associate them with, specifically the road trip shared with a dear friend.
I’ve never really had a companion accompany me on a photography expedition before because it takes a special kind of patience and contentment to hang around while I lose myself in the pursuit. Matt not only had these qualities, but he also enriched our experience through his own exploration. While I knelt in soggy fish bones on the shore of the Salton Sea to compose this image, he walked the shore reading poetry and writing in his journal. In the car rides between sites, we processed together our unique reflections of our respective experiences from the last location. I shared my impressions from the subject and environment I was photographing, and he shared bits of the poetry he was reading or his journal reflections processing the experience. I have no doubt that our mutual sharing positively affected the work each of us was doing. Truly edifying.
The title of this image has a dual meaning for me. There’s the obvious literal meaning, which the viewer can easily grasp by looking at the image. Then, there’s the more personal meaning. As I mentioned above, I typically work alone. Just me with my camera and my subject. But this trip was enriched by my traveling companion. When I think “three by the sea” it brings to mind the two of us, plus a third, intangible force that no doubt impacted my images from this trip. The connection and shared experiences between us was almost like a third companion. A quote commonly attributed to Aristotle says it well:
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Thank you, Matt, for making these images, and the experiences of creating them, “greater than.”
