Photo Art Adventure | Tinker Falls | Truxton NY

Alexis Emm is a natural light photographer located in Syracuse, NY. She specializes in artistic wedding & portrait photography. To view more of her work visit her website HERE.

In preparation for my first art showing at Symphoria’s SPARK series, hosted at House of S. Jaye, my husband & I took a little road trip to Tinker Falls, in Truxton, NY. What better place to create art?! The peaceful & meditative vibes under the the waterfall have made it one of my favorite places on the planet.

The inspiration for the three piece canvas display we set out to create, was a Bruce Lee quote :

Empty your mind.. Be formless.. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

At first, I staged a scene where the water was polluted with garbage. I balanced on rocks & splashed through freezing water. There was something beautiful about the water’s ability to flow freely despite the circumstances I placed upon it.

The images above are dope, but something was missing so I kept shooting. Giant icicles hung from the cliff of Tinker Falls & they really got me thinking. How amazing it must be to unite like water does when it’s frozen! What if our whole world could “be like water” and unite with each other?

I was deep in thought & making pictures of mother nature’s glory, and tada! Out pops another adventurer at the top of the waterfall. It was perfect timing. His presence in these images puts the size of this ice in perspective. Huge!

After I had fun with the icicles, my hubs & I hiked down the stream, taking a plastic bottle with us. I filled the bottle with water and positioned it in a tree; then on some snow in the stream. These photos are a literal presentation of Bruce Lee’s quote – when you put water inside the bottle the water became the bottle. The water didn’t fight, it simply adapted & accepted its new environment.

This is when the adventure really came alive! My husband picked up a rock & tossed it in the stream. Squealing with excitement I encouraged him to do it again (& again & again!) to get the perfect splash.

MAGIC! The only thing left to create was an image that represented the beginning of Bruce Lee’s quote, “Empty your mind.” My husband cracked open the bottle & placed it at an angle on a rigid tree trunk. Pure brilliance. The water leaked out slow enough for me to get different angles & capture it in motion.