Passion Junkie

The Photographs of A.T. Willett

I take photographs to record significant events, real people, and real places. Sometimes these stories exist only for a brief moment in time. I believe my photographs help people to better understand the environment in which they live. Without my images, these moments and their beauty would be lost forever.

There is always a thin line which separates black from white, life from death, love from hate, beauty from ugliness, compassion from contempt, life always presents both sides. I can stand where I see both sides of life with this thin shifting line in-between. I can make a decision I can choose the pathway that will evolve my soul and my personality. I can choose the pathway that will take all the love in my heart to follow. My photographs are not the world's greatest pictures, but the stories they hold have formed many of the life concepts by which I live life. I will always search for stories of beauty wonder courage determination love and compassion, if I am lucky enough I will shoot a couple of interesting photographs along the way.

Last day of a hero: I waved an acknowledging wave to my friend Tom McNeff on the flooded bank of the Tanque Verde wash October 2nd. 1983. This was one of Tom's first calls of the day, a rescue to save three people who were swept into a rapid running flooded wash they had tried to cross in their tiny Subaru car. Tom was an Arizona Department of Public Safety Helicopter rescue pilot, flying and helping people were Tom's greatest passions in life. Tom and copilot Dick Stratman rescued more than 30 people this day which later became the last day of their lives. The complete story will be in the chapter on the energy of life and death which is not on the website.

Vatos West 29 Street: It was 1983 and I was trying to put together a few images to my first job as a photojournalist at the Tucson Citizen. While driving through south Tucson I could see this photograph coming together as I headed West on 29th street. This was back before gangs carried guns, see the knife in the one Vatos belt? I noticed the knife after I began to photograph these two. Martin the one in the Arizona shirt wanted me to get a shot of the tattoo on his back, he also showed me his scars from being stabbed on his right side. I love this image, it has been on my wall for almost twenty years. I have always wondered what had happened to these Vatos and their lives. In December 2003 I learned Martin's friend, the young kid holding the Pepsi was killed, shot to death about three months after I created this image. It was strange to learn this after all of these years. I was afraid to shoot this image but I am lucky I was there to record this brief moment in South Tucson gang culture.

Saragosa Texas Tornado Disaster: Members of the Lopez family return to where their house once stood the day before, with only the night clothes on their backs. This was in May of 1987 on my first tornado chasing trip. I was headed out to Texas in the middle of the night when a fuzzy AM radio broadcast directed me to the tiny town of Saragosa, which had been almost completely destroyed by an F4 tornado. I arrived in Saragosa six hours after the tornado had hit and they were still searching for survivors in complete darkness. When the first light of dawn shone upon this tiny town of 200 people, members of the Lopez family, grandmother, mother and children returned with only their lives, everything else was gone. This tornado which had winds over 260 miles per hour, took the lives of 33 residents, many were children who had gathered for a preschool graduation in the town community center.

A great teacher in life: A great teacher in life: Louis Carlos Bernal was my photography teacher who over the years became my friend. He would capture moments in people's lives with the click of his shutter. Working within the Chicano community his subjects and their lives would be displayed in Lou's images with beautiful light and color. These photographs and their stories have out lived Lou Bernal who was injured in a bicycle accident while on his way to work as the Pima College Photography Instructor. After the accident, Lou survived for four years in a coma. I would go by to visit him as he floated trapped in-between worlds. I would tell him stories of my life, about photography, sometimes I would click his cameras in his ear, anything to try to awaken him from his deep sleep. Life and death the thin line this is a photograph of Lou after he had just bought me lunch at El Charro restaurant in Tucson. When you look into his eyes, you might be able to see Lou Bernal was a person who could see the reality of the world.

Afraid of heights: This was a great shot to shoot and made me challenge my fear of heights, which is usually only about 50 feet. This was 500 feet straight down to the runners in the New York City Marathon. There is actually a railing around the edge of the column, but the railing is five feet from the edge of the bridge. To shoot this image I had to slither under the railing and hang my head over the edge so I could shoot straight down. Since the Verazanno Narrows is a suspension bridge when the runners ran across the bridge you feel the column move in a pace to the thousands of bouncing feet. Fear is an energy, if you can put it behind you instead of in your face it will push toward many opportunities.

Breaking the sound Barrier: An F-14 Tomcat breaking the sound barrier shot from the flight deck of the USS. Nimitz. This is kind of a hard image to shoot since the plane is moving 721 miles per hour, which until you actually see that speed is really fast. You barely have a enough time to lift your camera and press the shutter. Just before the plane breaks the speed of sound, transonic vapor forms on the wings and the whole thing begins to shimmer in the light. One of the coolest events of physics I have seen in my lifetime. Click her to see my other Aviation Images.

May 5th. 1993: Gruver Texas Tornado, I saw seven tornados out of the same storm complex this was number one, notice the small farm and the windmill. I shot this out the window while driving through a 70 MPH low level inflow jet. It destroyed a large farm but no one was killed from these storms. A story about the energy of fate took place a few miles from this spot in another Texas Wheat field, it will be in the book also.

Energy of Life: As living beings we are entirely made up of atoms and molecules, so easily influenced by many forms of energy. The energy of passion flows through every physical molecule of a human being. "The Energy of Shirley" was from a series of people images depicting this energy, moving, glowing and alive. When you begin to conceptualize a life form at the molecular level you can also understand how the slightest amount of energy can affect our lives.

Salt Lake City 2002: The child of light caught in the ice and snow storm part of the opening ceremony at the 2002 Winter Olympics. The opening was one of the most beautiful wonderful events I have seen maybe ever, I was a spectator in the stands not shooting as a professional photographer. With all that has happened this year in America, to hear a crowd of of 50,000 people become completely silent when they carried in the American flag from the World Trade Center was just overwhelming. "Light the fire within" theme was the official Olympic slogan for 2002 and that is what the concept of a Passion Junkie is all about.

I hope you enjoy what I try to create, life passion thought and beauty, A. T. Willett

The El Tiradito Shrine Photograph is on My Passions page this link will take you there.

The Lightningsmiths Site Links to a few of my other photographs can be found on my biography pages.

I am a photographer so if you are interested in my work take a look at my new image Broker. Available 24 hours a day 7 days a week, ready for instant download, click on the link to the right and go to Alamy.com! Alamy sells rights to my commercial images online and there are over 400 images up there now, contact me directly by Email if you are interested in fine art prints of any image I have created.