Articles by Raphael Shevelev | Raphael Shevelev Ideas in Photography

I've decided to make available on this website a number of articles on photography, art and the creative process that I've published in various magazines over the years. Periodically I'll be adding more articles to this collection. You're welcome to print out articles or reproduce them electronically as long as the article, copyright and byline are printed intact, with all links visible and made live if distributed in electronic form. Write me at rs@raphaelshevelev.com if you want to comment or engage in dialogue.

Vision

"I see," said the blind man, and he did. So powerful is the sense of vision, so strongly does it motivate, affect and determine the quality of the many avenues of our relationships with all that surrounds us, that its central force, that of imagery - and therefore imagination - has become a potent metaphor for understanding. It often goes beyond that which is empirically observable.

We pride ourselves on being the scions of logic and science, the descendants of an unparalleled age of theoretical and empirical knowledge, the beneficiaries of technologies that continue to revolutionize our minds and our lives. Our successes have served to reinforce the supremacy of logic and methodology, of the immense value of the progression of associative thought, each step carefully and linearly constructed upon the foundation of all that has gone before all that has been tested and proven, and therefore safe.

The (Dis)Comfort of Creation

By Raphael Shevelev

In the beginning we were given light and cameras and film, and we wandered around the Vale of Cameraclubville and made lovely images, and we saw that they were good. And on the seventh day we rested. On the morning of the eighth day we awoke, a little disturbed by our dreams, but, as they were only dreams, we dismissed them and went about our business of making more lovely images.

Rajasthan: Photography as Connection

By Raphael Shevelev

A largely harsh desert in Northwest India, Rajasthan has been, for most of its history, a land of ancient princely fiefdoms, chivalric traditions and a hardy people surviving and practicing their customs in a hostile physical environment. Under both Mughal rule and the British Raj, the kingdoms of Rajasthan maintained a high degree of independence. Much of this distinctive culture remains even as Rajasthan moves into the future as an integral part of modern, democratic India.

Enter Galleries