I’ve met lots of people with dreams that one day – God willing, the creeks don’t rise, and a winning lottery ticket – they’ll pursue. And a lot of those folks were amateur photographers like myself, honing their skills in classes at Central Virginia Community College until they could set up their own studio.
It isn’t that all dreamers are insincere: just that it takes a certain something – a discerning eye, a hearty constitution, and a willingness to take a big chance – in the face of everyday concerns, like paying the bills.
Robert Miller (picutred above) lives in Lynchburg, and he’s one of the rare photographers who spends his days pursuing his art. In the last few years, things have really taken off for Miller: he’s won a number of prestigious awards and one of his photographs appeared in National Geographic magazine.
When I sat down for a cup of coffee with Miller at Givens Books in Lynchburg a couple weeks ago, he told me that his connection with photography began very early.
“I started photography when I was quite young. I had a Kodak Brownie camera, but my interest in digital photography started about six years ago…I really enjoy digital photography, and I enjoy going out and being in nature too.”
Miller’s specialty is natural scenery—spring flowers, a lake at sunset, or a bridge leading into the woods—from Lynchburg to the Blue Ridge mountains. He has a knack of reminding us of something we forget in the everyday rush. How often, driving along 460 or entering downtown Lynchburg, do we notice the changing seasons or the gentle flow of the James River?
“Even in the City of Lynchburg you can walk the city trails,” Miller told me, “and I met the same hawk three times…He would fly over me and he got used to me and he would land within ten feet from me.”
Looking at the careful framing of Miller’s natural scenes, it might be easy to pick out influences like Ansel Adams. Less obvious, though, is one of his favorite photographers: Edward S. Curtis. In the early 1900s, Curtis completed a series of photographic essays on Native Americans.
“I think I admired some of his photography the most,” Miller said. “He’s a portrait photographer and I’m not really a portrait photographer, but I did enjoy his work a lot.”
Miller has also been influenced in his love of the natural world by a number of American writers including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Emily Dickinson. He frequently attaches quotes from favorite writers to enrich the context of his photographs.
“I really like Emily Dickinson,” Miller told me. “She could express the most in the fewest words. I really admire her poetry and her life.”
When I ask Miller why nature is so important in his photography, he asks his own question in reply.
“Why shouldn’t it [nature] be important to everyone, is what I wonder. The way we live, like in cities and in counties…we’ve really separated ourselves from nature.”
This separation causes a disconnect between people and the environment in which they live.
“I was reading a blog the other day,” Miller continues, “because I like to read about animals and such, and it was about mocking birds. And there were all these people in New York City that were complaining about the noise of mocking birds on their branches. And my immediate thought is, ‘And the trains and the planes and the buses don’t bother them? But if they hear a natural sound, it’s going to drive them nuts.’ I think everyone needs to get back in touch with nature.”
While Miller’s photographs remind us of the beauty of our local scenery, then, they also remind us of our connection to the natural world. And unlike speaking in a particular language—English, or say Spanish—photographs can speak to anyone.
“The thing about pictures, particularly on Flickr,” Miller told me, “is that it provides a wordless communication around the world. No matter what nationality someone is – they could be in Iran, Iraq – you can become friends with them almost on a non-verbal level.”
For all of Miller’s accomplishments, his approach to photography has changed very little over the years. He may have moved from a Brownie to Nikon digital, but he never forgets his own principals.
“I’ve never really approached it [photography] as being professional or serious,” Miller told me. “I’ve just strived to be as good as I could possibly be. More or less, other people liked my photographs, and liked what I liked.”
Hungry for more? Visit Robert’s site at http://robertmillerphoto.com/.
Images: At top, Robert Miller; “Kind Action,” floral; “Bridge to Appalachian Wilderness.”
