My mother died today, very unexpectedly. Can't believe it. I’m so very, very sad.

This is a photo of my mom I’d been trying to make of my mom for about a decade. Just a simple picture that captured her spirit and beauty.

As it turns out, it was made the last day my family was all together … a 50th wedding anniversary trip we all took to Scotland. I made this photograph at dinner our final night there, when we all went out to celebrate my dad and mom.

This may never going win any awards, but it’s a picture I’ll treasure forever.

So many people get tangled up in making pictures solely for their visual appeal and forget that photography is so much more than what a picture looks like. They are statements of what we value and find meaningful in the world.