Flow, Interrupted

Water moves differently when it is allowed to wander. In this forested stream on Kauai, it does not rush toward any single destination or force a single path. Instead, it advances through continuous adjustment, slipping around stone, pressing forward, then yielding again.

I was drawn first to the movement, the way the water stretched into flowing lines as it passed over rock, then gathered itself before continuing onward. Long exposure reveals patterns invisible to the eye: curves, pauses, redirections. The water never stops, yet it is constantly changing course.

What adds another layer here is the colour carried by the stones themselves. Moss and mineral stain the rocks with deep green, the water borrowing and reflecting those tones as it passes. Everything it touches is altered slightly, cooled, darkened, enriched. The scene feels sheltered and alive.

There is something quietly symbolic in this rhythm. The water chooses a line, meets resistance, adjusts. Again and again. Progress not as a straight advance, but as a series of small recalibrations. Always forward. Never fixed.

Seen through Vertique, the composition stretches along the length of the stream rather than upward into height. By working low, the image becomes a sequence rather than a vista, leading the eye through repetition, contact, and redirection. It reflects a familiar truth: that life rarely flows unbroken, yet still finds its way onward, shaped as much by what stands in the way as by where it intends to go.