When I was about six, my mother dragged me off to an art museum. I would rather have gone to see fire engines, and I complained on the way back, "Mom, you push art too much." She didn't listen, and my siblings and I are the beneficiaries of her persistence. An artist and arts educator, my mother raised us to understand composition, focal point, balance, color and movement - and that was just finger painting. I received my first camera when I was about ten. Thirty years, six cameras and endless volumes of film later, I was honored with a showing of forty of my best images. A celebration of family, friends and, yes, art.

Photography for me is about aesthetics and curiosity. It is about constantly looking for that in the world that is alluring, beautiful, or expressive. It is about the process of thinking about my surroundings, not just in total but in their components. It is about trying to capture a moment or feeling by continuously thinking about how that moment is visually embodied.

For these reasons, and more, I especially enjoy taking photographs when I travel, and photography has become an integral part of how I experience the world. I was once accused of trying to see the entire world before I was thirty, this, no doubt, before I headed off to some supposedly obscure destination that wasn't meeting with complete approval. Indeed, I have a passion for travel. I love to learn about new cultures - their history, art, politics and food. Photography is central to how I explore the world around me and push myself to look more deeply.

Another of my passions is community service. It has been part of who I am for much of my life. It has been an outlet for creative problem solving, a source of great friendships, and, I believe, an avenue for positive contribution.

And so I received the perfect gift. On the occasion of my fortieth birthday, my family proposed to organize a celebration of art and community. We would select, print, and frame forty of my best photographs. We would hang them in a gallery and have a party. And we would offer the prints for purchase, with proceeds to benefit the charity of my choice. Photography, family, friends, service -- these are the touchstones of my life. It was an extraordinary experience to have these come together in one wonderful event.

The photographs gathered here were taken over a period of twenty-five years in six U.S. states and seventeen countries. Each one represents a moment of joy, a moment of discovery, a moment of creative expression. Thank you for allowing me to share these moments with you.

Andrew Feiler
Atlanta, Georgia