According to Carl Jung, the numinous is that which we sense is there but we cannot perceive exactly. I was struck early on by the look I was seeing on the faces of the athletes I was photographing. They're not looking straight ahead ... they actually don't appear to be looking at anything sometimes. What's going on there, I wonder. 

As a former athlete, who probably manifested that look from time to time, I have an idea about what goes on. The imagination is taking over ... that guy that I saw on the left will catch me in two more steps if I don't turn ... but I'd prefer not to run into this big guy ... how did my foot feel in the ground, can I turn sharply... where were my team mates when I last saw them, who was closest... being conscious of it all would just slow you down. All the while looking for an opportunity. 

I think of it these days as a little shift in space-time. We all do it. We admire art that reminds us. We can't do it all the time and we can hardly ever do it consciously ... although we do like to put ourselves into situations that might generate the experience ... sports, movies, games ....

Living in the moment is not likely to pay the bills and we all know the price we pay for ignoring the rigors of the grid we have laid over our visions ... so the application of such powers is limited to some of us, some of the time ... moments here and there ... otherwise all hell would break loose and we'd never get anything done. And there appear to be issues with trying to force it ... the observation is always limited to who and how one is looking. But that's what I believe is going on when we see that look. Peripheral vision and the laws of physics are being conjugated in the imagination ... divining what might be possible in the next moment. I love photographs like that because they show me someone who is visiting with the spirit, just for a moment. To me, that has always been what sports are about.