The Ramer House

Ramer House, October 20, 2008, Walla Walla, WA

I've mentioned in the past that I'm a big fan of Joel Meyerowitz's work. His images are timeless and take me back to peaceful and idyllic times. It was 2004 when I had my first "Meyerowitz Experience" at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, TX. I was there for my photo professor's grand Artist's Talk regarding his exhibit Brent Phelps: Photographing the Lewis and Clark Trail. Unfortunately, I drove around too long trying to find a parking space and they ran out of seats and wouldn't allow any extra people in. So, alas, I never did get to hear him talk about his experiences photographing along the trail. What a stinker. But--the flip side is that while I was milling around the museum waiting for Brent to finish his talk, I happened upon a beautiful color photograph hanging among several other pieces on one of the smaller walls. The photograph was Hartwig House by a certain Joel Meyerowitz. I made a mental note to look him up when I got home. Hartwig House is a photo of a home interior looking down a hallway full of doors which ends with a screened door filled with shrubs beyond. It's hard to describe adequately, but this I do know: As I stood there with that photograph an inch from my nose, just a youth in my early twenties, absorbing the creamy colors of the print, I stepped into another time: calm, peaceful. I became part of that photograph, walking down that hallway, floating through that print. I know that sounds artsy and fanciful, but the experience was so incredible. Meyerowitz's Hartwig House changed the way I looked at photography. His books A Summer's Day and Cape Light changed the way I viewed the world and shaped the way I shot for the next couple of years.

Meyerowitz's work is way beyond the photo above, but as I stood in the Ramer home that day, I couldn't help but remember and be inspired all over again when I saw that hallway and those doors.