Smitten by bees...
I became drawn into the natural world of pollinators after my wife had replaced our home garden with California native plants. We were excited to see first-hand that locally native plants really do attract local birds and insects. I began taking many photographs with a new camera and added a macro lens. I started noticing that we had assorted bees that I knew nothing about so I began my pursuit of studying these critters.
I’ll never forget the moment some years ago when my wife invited me to join her at a Master Gardeners training presentation in San Jose, California. The presenter was Jaime Pawelek who worked for Dr. Gordon Frankie at UC Berkeley. Jaime’s presentation introduced and described the life cycles of many California bee species, their close relationships with native plants and their role in pollination. I was smitten; this was a significant milestone for me.
After many years, I still feel that I didn’t choose bees, they chose me. I know that statement has been said many times by many people but I cannot say why I’m so fascinated by these creatures. I combine my passions for bees and photography to show facets of paired life cycles of bees and plants.
On photography:
Photography guides often recommend taking pictures about something or someone instead of just taking pictures of something or someone. In other words, when we look at a photo it’s often what story the image conveys and not the image itself. Pollination is like that for me: it’s not enough to take a nice picture of a bee or a flower but instead my goal is to ask “What is this about?” or “What’s happening here and now?” Sharing this is my goal here in the California Pollination Project.
Thank you Jenny Hazlehurst for creating this project!
John Kehoe, June 20, 2020
