It was after losing the sight in his right eye that David Ulrich began photographing the Hawai'in Islands. As he struggled to capture the intense beauty and the terrifying destruction of Kaho'olawe he learned "right seeing." In this article, he describes how he was tested by the island. He took a step back and listened. He began seeing the dark sacredness of the land, the higher energies that cannot be used for personal, even if creative, needs. He learned to move beyond his ego's desire and his habitual practiced ways of photography, and to stand humbly in service of a larger purpose, to act as a vehicle for creativity. In the deep, volcanic contrasts he saw the possibilities inherent in destruction for renewal and regeneration and the similarities between the wounding of the land, the wounding of the earth, and the wounding of a person.
