My three-year journey took me to New York and Europe, Argentina, Brazil, Haiti, China, Thailand, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Dar Es Salaam, and Zanzibar, not only as a tourist but as a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity in Thailand and multiple trips to Haiti for earthquake relief. I brought along concern for people, wildlife and the environment as key lenses for my camera, hoping to tell the stories of Third World lives with a sense of respect for individual resilience and joy of living.
You can glimpse some of the beauty that I feel fortunate to have captured during those travels at my website: JoeBurnsPhotography.com.
In 2011 I settled at the Jersey Shore. I always wanted to live near the ocean but never had the opportunity, so like my journeys abroad, I decided to manifest the opportunity by simply doing it. For the last nine months I have been photographing the sand, water, and sky of Asbury Park, Ocean Grove and nearby towns. I feel as a photographer that getting to record this ever-changing landscape is like an artist getting to paint on a new canvas every day.
The ocean is healing. It is water. It is light. It is mysterious. There really is nothing else like it.
If you allow yourself to see the beauty, it is all around and ever present. I feel blessed to be open and present to enjoying the many radiant gifts life has to offer, and fortunate to be tapping into something that inspires me and brings me joy.
I hope you enjoy seeing the world through my eyes.
“Shine your own light, follow your own path, and don’t worry
about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest.”
