Kat Fitzpatrick's Gulf Coast

The Eyes Have It - May 2020

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In this series of photo essays, the Shoofly Magazine showcases the work of local photographers.  Their only instructions?  Show us the coast through your lens.  This month we feature the work of artist Kat Fitzpatrick.  

In most cases, the photographers write a little overview of their work for this column.  In this case, Kat submitted a remarkable poem:  

I’m a right brain gal
In ordinary times
But these times just ain’t right.

hunting miracles Before dawn
For photo capture
The dance of light and matter.
A bulb goes off over my head
All cartoon-y
and my thoughts become
complex equations of the total number of sunrises and positions of the sun throughout the year
Divided by weather patterns and the geometry of weathering wooden piers halved by hurricanes
Multiplied by pelican mating seasons and the punctuating slash of an osprey sighting
Years of fighting the urge to go see
in favor of a finished dream and a soft bed
​
added to the amount of time it takes to pour hot water over coffee before leaving the house.
I could miss the nanosecond of wonder while I fumble with the cap on the new half and half.
Some mornings the equation flattens from the weight of the observer’s Mood.
daring the morning with jaded eyes.
Show me something I haven’t already seen a thousand times before.

​​​The morning obliges.
​
A fish
Breaking free from opal water
Briefly flies
Before drawing circles
on the liquid skin of the Bay
Re-emerging in a direction I am too slow to track
or capture on my phone
Until I am laughing.
​​
A second later
The sun sears my pale blues and I am forced to look away
From the brilliance
and
my place in the equation
​​

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Kat has a large and appreciative following on Facebook who watch for her sunrise/sunset photographs.  Most are taken in her Cedar Point neighborhood that's surrounded by the Bay of St. Louis.  Find new work on Facebook or follow her on Instagram. 

About Kat Fitzpatrick

Kat Fitzpatrick grew up knowing that she would be an artist like her mom, painter Jean Roempke Baldwin Hammett. 

The opportunity to study with the legendary photographer Jerry Uelsmann led to a sharp detour from painting and later, a degree in photography from the University of Florida. 

Painting, teaching and writing have been abiding passions but her long dormant love for photography was rekindled a few years ago. 

Using an iPhone 7, she can be found most mornings (and many evenings) documenting the ever changing mystery of light on water in Bay St. Louis.

Discover more about Kat Fitzpatrick and her artwork on her website. 

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