I used to spend a lot of time in Provincetown, Mass. during the summer, hanging out with my poet and artist friends, reveling in the creative life that was once so powerful a part of the summer there.

The artists were always talking about “Seagull Art,” the paintings and drawings of seagulls the artists used to sell to tourists all summer so that they could afford to paint what they wanted – “real art” – in the Fall and Winter.

They used the term in a negative and derogatory way, they hated having to paint the seagulls over and over again just to make a living. It was not what they wanted to do.

I understood how they felt, but they did seem a bit snooty to me, people really loved the seagull art, they wanted to take it home and hang it on their walls.

I have always avoided taking photos of seagulls and animals like deer, they seemed such great cliches to me. But there are reasons cliches are cliches, it is because they are so popular. Artists want the money being popular brings, but they would rather be original, creative and bold.

Maria and I sat on a stone wall in Rye, N.H. this week and a bunch of seagulls took a liking to us and sat down close to us, grooming their feathers, dozing on the sand.

I liked watching them gather and gaze at the water. They were quite peaceful.

One of the birds kept circling over me again and again, and so I finally picked up my 85 mm lens and took a shot of him flying right over my head.

I like it, it’s my version of “Seagull Art,” and I remember how much people loved the Seagull Art in Provincetown, maybe people will like seeing my Seagull. Hope so.