Photo Kairos comes from the Greek words phōtos (“having light”) and kairos (“the right, critical or opportune moment”).
To the ancient Greeks, kairos meant time: in the moment, the now, “the gods’ time.” The other Greek word for time was chronos, referring to time on your watch‐chronological or sequential time.
In kairos, time seems to stand still.
John Stewart, referred to “Your Moment of Zen.” Lawyers dictate that “What is said must be said at the right time.” Einstein said that time is relative.
The baby smiles; the dancer makes a perfect jump; the clouds suddenly break: What happens in that brief moment of time when the camera shutter is open will never, ever happen exactly the same way again. That is “The Decisive Moment.”
An image is the shadow cast by the interaction of light and time‐it is the result of photos kairos. Our memories‐whether they be synaptic or graphic‐are the residue of our lifetime of kairos and tell our unique story of human existence.
Join us as we explore light and time together…
Photography is not like painting. There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative.
— Henri Cartier-Bresson