The unsteady hand of the photographer

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SALT LAKE CITY — Troy Hunter's budding photography career began with what he thought was a bad snapshot.

Hunter is a landscape designer, specializing in naturalistic stonework and water features. One night a few years ago, he was taking a photograph of a client's Christmas lights.

He tried to hold the camera steady, but it moved and produced a few photos he thought belonged in the trash. Later, he showed the pictures to a friend and dropped one of the rejects in the recycle bin. The friend grabbed the mouse and retrieved the photo.

"And he's like, 'You gotta look at this, really look at this and see the colors that are going on here,'" Hunter said. "It's just really incredible."

He's like, 'You gotta look at this, really look at this and see the colors that are going on here. It's just really incredible.'

–Troy Hunter, photographer

Hunter had a hard time holding the camera steady because his hands shake due to a hereditary neurological disorder called essential tremors. His father had it and Hunter developed it in his 20's.

Because of the tremors, Hunter's taken his share of what he calls his "shaky pictures," most of which he's thrown away. But he didn't throw away this one.

Instead, encouraged by friends, he began taking more — Temple Square Christmas lights, fireworks, streetlights, and neon signs transformed into abstract streaks and smears of light and color.

"I didn't try to control it (the shaking) anymore, just let it go and let it do what it's supposed to do," he said.

He began exhibiting his work, and this year was invited to show his photos at the Utah Arts Festival.

Photo Gallery:

Hunter could take medications to control the tremors. He tried that when he first started to shake, but he didn't like the side effects.

"I always felt like I was looking through fog colored glasses," he said.

Now, he says, the tremors have become a part of his identity.

"I basically decided I wasn't gonna take drugs to make other people feel comfortable," he said. "I don't have a problem with it. You shouldn't have a problem with it."

"It's amazing how many people are telling me, ‘Why don't you take drugs for it if you could make it go away?' and I'm like, ‘I don't want it to go away. It's part of who I am.'"

You can see more of Hunter's at http://nitelenz.com.

Email: prosen@ksl.com