Chip Howell

Photographer

I love digging through photos. Magazines, family albums, galleries all contain a hint of life as seen through the eye of the person clicking the camera. In going back through my own logs of photographs, I am often surprised at the emotive qualities that show through in a photograph long after the shot itself was taken, the subject studied. A moment in time unprecedented in its instant relationship between event, photographer and ultimately, the viewer.

Growing up in Beaverdam, I was practically raised in the woods, running and exploring the creeks and ridges from Beaver Creek to Buzzards Rock. I felt the passage of time in the changing of the leaves, the piercing light of the sun setting beyond the ridge, creek walking when the spring water ran high and the inevitable search for ticks before being let in the house after a long summer's day. This same sense of time is marked by photography. The act of taking the photo allows us to put our own mark on time, creating a capsule of memory.

Throughout the years, I have had the good fortune to have traveled from Beaverdam out to various corners of the world. A camera in hand has often become a tool to bridge the gaps of culture and location, both documenting and, in some cases, creating spontaneous events. I treasure the people and places I have come across and feel that displaying these images will both inspire the explorer that resides in all of us and ignite the possibility of connection between people and places separated by governments, hemispheres and time zones. Good stories inspire great connections, and if these photos could talk, well, you know the rest.

The images here represent a small sample of an overall catalog. I stay busy in the architectural field these days, but always find photography a welcome release. Please feel free to call me or email if you would like to view additional images. Thanks for your interest and I hope these photos can bring some life and joy into your home just as their subjects have brought joy into mine.