Phil's Photography

Images of the Sacred

To view my photography, roll over the "Photographs" menu at the top of this page.

When we use photographs to capture the wonder and diversity of the natural world, we are akin to a child gazing at its mother with love and admiration. And, in fact, that is precisely what we are doing. As philosopher Alan Watts told us, "We don't come into the world . . . we come out of it." Science has proven that we and the Earth itself are, fundamentally, star dust. Billions of years ago, when the universe was very young, some of its first stars exploded as supernovas, spewing fundamental elements, the eventual building blocks of life, across the cosmos. The Earth was formed from this debris and, after several billions of years, gave birth to our species. As renowned astronomer Carl Sagan put it, "If you want to make apple pie from scratch, first you have to create the universe." The same is true for making people. We are nature — a tiny sliver of it, to be sure — but nature nonetheless. The images here offer a few glimpses of the miracle of which we are a tiny part. More will be added regularly.