Charlie was the head of the Photography Department at the Pasadena Art Center, College of Design. He taught me that it was more important to learn how to see, truly see, light, than it was learn to light. Charlie used the simplest of objects; a sphere, a cylinder, a block, all painted white, to demonstrate how to see light in all its infinite varieties.

As he moved mundane light sources; a flashlight, a match, an everyday light bulb, in and out, this angle and that, around the sphere, cylinder and block, I was so profoundly moved by this simple exercise that I have never lost the sense of wonder I felt at that moment.

Charlie taught and showed me that light is a law of nature, as immutable as gravity. I have never seen light in the same way since that moment. I was forever changed, enlightened, as it were, in how I perceived light.

Charlie showed me how to achieve a myriad of effects with almost any single light source. Whether using the sun or a match, an Inkie or an 18K HMI, I learned to see, to sense, and eventually almost to intuit the effect of light on the photographic object.

Sine that time the habits I learned from Charlie have never left me. To this day I consciously perceive light differently than most people do, as I suspect all good cinematographers, photographers and visual artists do.

Sometimes when Susan, my wife, and I are out dinner somewhere new, she will catch me (in a rare moment) being inattentive and ask, “You’re looking at the light again, aren’t you?” She’s usually right. I generally respond that she is the only light I see, the light of my life, but we both know what I’m up to. It’s an occupational hazard.

In this issue, we will discuss light and lighting. What I hope to bring to that discussion is this reminder to practice, practice, practice seeing light until we no longer just see it, we feel it.

Fraternally, Steven Poster, ASC National President International Cinematographers Guild Local 600