Finding Inspiration: Harris combines favorite pastimes to create art he loves (May 4, 2012)
CHURCH HILL — “I’ve always been kind of a creative person,” Tracy Harris said sitting at a reading table inside Church Hill Public Library.
Listening to him speak about his hobbies with modesty, you would never know his handiwork was on exhibit less than 20 feet away in celebration of National Poetry Month. Tracy is an amateur poet and photographer, self-trained with an equal passion for both pastimes.
“When I was 14, I started to write poems,” he said, “but I didn’t start writing in earnest until four years ago.”
Tracy said his work often includes themes of nature, as well as things in life that inspire him.
“Pastoral poems; how you feel when you’re sitting on the front porch, or under the shade of a tree. Those are the types of things that inspire me,” he said. “Poetry just comes to me. It’s very seldom difficult to write.”
Tracy’s goal is to compile and publish a book of 100 poems, something that he believes complements his photography well.
While verse is his more recent serious hobby, Tracy said he purchased his first camera, a 35MM, for a nickel in the 1980s. Then, 10 years ago, he began using a digital camera and claims it opened his eyes to unlimited possibilities.
“Photographers who don’t always like digital editing will sometimes say, ‘We need to get back to the days of Ansel Adams,’ but they forget that he was using all the technologies he had on hand at the time,” Tracy noted.
As an example, he pointed out a particular photo in his collection taken of his daughter at their home.
“It started out as a photo of the house with my daughter standing in the window,” he said. “But when I digitally cropped it down, it became a piece of art.”
The result was Tracy’s favorite photo “The Pearl,” of a young woman dressed in black, peering through a window at some unknown scene, the reflection of the trees dancing across her face, seen through a pane of glass.
“It ranks right up there,” he said. “It’s artistic, and then, of course, it’s my daughter.”
Like Adams, however, Tracy said the great outdoors is among his favorite subjects to photograph.
“I like to take photos of nature, still life type things. And I love architecture, especially barns,” he said.
One of his recent studies, a barn located off of East Stone Drive in Kingsport, resulted in more than 100 photographs before Tracy had “the one.”
“I took more than 130 pics of that barn before I got the one I chose to keep,” he said. “And that particular one just kind of stuck out.”
In addition to architecture, Tracy said a common theme in both his photography and poetry is the Holston River.
“I’d rather be out photographing the river anytime I can,” he said. “It’s a big influence on my photos and my poetry. Sometimes I just go sit and look at it for inspiration. It can be something as simple as the water carrying a branch downstream.”
Tracy shares his inspirations through a blog at www.tracyhsays.com where the public can read most every poem he’s written. The site also includes a link to his Flickr page where many of his photos are posted.
Regarding his unique combination of hobbies, Tracy said, “They kind of go hand in hand, pictures and poetry. Both capture a moment and I get a lot of satisfaction from them. I’m always looking for stuff, thinking about how it would look in a photo or as a piece of poetry.”
“When I was 14, I started to write poems,” he said, “but I didn’t start writing in earnest until four years ago.”
Tracy said his work often includes themes of nature, as well as things in life that inspire him.
“Pastoral poems; how you feel when you’re sitting on the front porch, or under the shade of a tree. Those are the types of things that inspire me,” he said. “Poetry just comes to me. It’s very seldom difficult to write.”
Tracy’s goal is to compile and publish a book of 100 poems, something that he believes complements his photography well.
While verse is his more recent serious hobby, Tracy said he purchased his first camera, a 35MM, for a nickel in the 1980s. Then, 10 years ago, he began using a digital camera and claims it opened his eyes to unlimited possibilities.
“Photographers who don’t always like digital editing will sometimes say, ‘We need to get back to the days of Ansel Adams,’ but they forget that he was using all the technologies he had on hand at the time,” Tracy noted.
As an example, he pointed out a particular photo in his collection taken of his daughter at their home.
“It started out as a photo of the house with my daughter standing in the window,” he said. “But when I digitally cropped it down, it became a piece of art.”
The result was Tracy’s favorite photo “The Pearl,” of a young woman dressed in black, peering through a window at some unknown scene, the reflection of the trees dancing across her face, seen through a pane of glass.
“It ranks right up there,” he said. “It’s artistic, and then, of course, it’s my daughter.”
Like Adams, however, Tracy said the great outdoors is among his favorite subjects to photograph.
“I like to take photos of nature, still life type things. And I love architecture, especially barns,” he said.
One of his recent studies, a barn located off of East Stone Drive in Kingsport, resulted in more than 100 photographs before Tracy had “the one.”
“I took more than 130 pics of that barn before I got the one I chose to keep,” he said. “And that particular one just kind of stuck out.”
In addition to architecture, Tracy said a common theme in both his photography and poetry is the Holston River.
“I’d rather be out photographing the river anytime I can,” he said. “It’s a big influence on my photos and my poetry. Sometimes I just go sit and look at it for inspiration. It can be something as simple as the water carrying a branch downstream.”
Tracy shares his inspirations through a blog at www.tracyhsays.com where the public can read most every poem he’s written. The site also includes a link to his Flickr page where many of his photos are posted.
Regarding his unique combination of hobbies, Tracy said, “They kind of go hand in hand, pictures and poetry. Both capture a moment and I get a lot of satisfaction from them. I’m always looking for stuff, thinking about how it would look in a photo or as a piece of poetry.”