About Coleman Organ Photography

Welcome to Coleman Organ Photography. This journey began longer ago than I want to admit. But it has always centered on looking through the viewfinder and capturing the beauty around me.  I began shooting as a teenager, searching for the perfect flower or sunset. Later, I took endless pictures of my children. From waking up in a snow covered tent in the Rocky Mountains, to walking the streets of the French Quarter in New Orleans, the world revealed its beauty through the camera.

I have practiced law in New Orleans since 1977. And, although a jealous mistress, she has allowed me to travel, see wonderful places and learn more about life outside New Orleans. Travel expands a photographer’s horizons, as well as his or her awareness: new people, new landscapes, and always new subjects.

I have picked up my cameras and put them down as life demanded. My view of the world and surroundings has been tempered in what I call the “crucible” of life: joy and pain; beauty and that which is not so beautiful. The lens does not judge. My work reflects what my mind has recorded: mostly joy and sometimes pain, but always a subject that speaks to being alive.

I learned about photography by looking through the viewfinder. Ironically, it taught me to see more clearly. It centers the mind within the frame, undistracted by life’s white noise. Details – the soft petals of a flower, a little girl’s soulful eyes and a swan’s grace all come to life through the camera’s lens. Finally, they are truly “in focus”.

I’ve read countless books and studied the images of the great and celebrated photographers. From Henri Cartier Bresson, who recorded humanity’s quintessential “decisive moment,” to the wonderful color photographs of Ernst Haas and landscapes of Galen Rowell. My work is influenced by them and countless others who feel the same joy I do when taking pictures. My images, like theirs, capture many different subjects, and see beauty all around.

Artists are always on the search for the unique image. We want to see like no one before us. With today’s modern equipment there are no limits to creating unique visions of what is often commonly photographed. The new rose, the new sunset, the next endearing smile of a child are photography’s gift. The camera’s mere existence nudges us ever onward. Surely it is there, surely we can capture that essence which our mind and senses can “see”. Surely we can “get it on film”, as we used to say. And although technology has changed that forever, the concept is the same.  The moment is there for us. We just have to pick up the camera.

As I pick up my camera and go forward with Coleman Organ Photography, I am looking forward to our travels together. Through the camera, written word and the “next” beautiful moment we capture, we will share and enjoy photography.