Some questions can't be answered in words.

To fully understand, one must contemplate her photographs.

"The reason they're different is because I see things differently," said Kathe LeSage, whose new book of photography, "One Woman's Montana," was recently released by Riverbend Publishing. "From the time I was small, I've always been a visual person, and somehow translated that into the visual art of photography."

LeSage, who lives in Wolf Creek, poses the rhetorical question: What catches a person's eye? Of course, it has no correct answer. Yet it separates one artist from the next, one photographer from another.

The question demonstrates its relevance in LeSage's new book, which depicts an array of black and white, color, and hand-painted photography, including the first digital shot she ever took.

While there's nothing terribly unique about a book of pictures, the images inside "One Woman's Montana" are original and telling, and depict fleeting moments in time.

Whether it's a cowboy readying his lasso or the delicate structure of a mallard's wing, the photos open a simplified view of a complex world, even though there's nothing simple about LeSage's work.

"It's a narrow slice -- it's just Montana," she said of the collection. "It does represent my work and what I love to do. I just love it when the elements come together."

LeSage's rise to photographic fame began when she was a girl in Great Falls. During those early years, she recalls, her father used the kitchen as a darkroom at night. She'd wake up in the morning to find her father's photos spread drying across the table.

"It was magic," she said. "It planted a seed."

The family moved to Bozeman shortly after that photographic seed was planted. But the cost of buying film and making prints was beyond her reach. Not until she entered junior high and got a job was LeSage able to afford the costs associated with her chosen craft.

Back in the film years, she said, 90 percent of what she shot was black and white. The digital world opened up the possibility of playing with color. She could print images herself, saving money while experimenting with different paper surfaces.

"It's a right-brain and a left-brained sport," she said. "I love the technical part and the visual part as well. When I'm out and looking at things, I'm not necessarily trying to record it as it is, but how it feels when you're there. It becomes a personal interpretation."

Chris Cauble, publisher of Riverbend, said he's published numerous photography books by accomplished photographers. Yet the images captured by LeSage represented something he'd never seen.

"The images were so strikingly different than most Montana photography books," he said. "I thought Kathe had a unique perspective on landscapes and other iconic Montana images. I was very impressed with her photography because it was so different."

LeSage, who taught photography at both Montana State University and Carroll College, had several revelations as a teacher.

Examining the work of her students, she realized how many of them attempted to simply recreate what they had seen instead of applying their own visual voice.

"It pointed out to me that I hadn't ever been interested in recreating what other people had done," she said. "You can look at something that's technically impeccable, but it gives you nothing. When there's an emotional energy put into art, it's felt by the viewer. You've giving them something to work with."

LeSage believes that where attention is placed, creation occurs. Photography, she adds, records the vibrations of the visible spectrum. Without light, there's no color. Without color, the world falls into monotonous shades of gray.

"To me, a photograph of whatever quality can be taken at any moment in time," she said. "It's visual awareness, whether it's lines or light or action. It's not always about lighting and technical issues. It's about other things."

LeSage will be signing copies of her new book, "One Woman's Montana," at the Montana Book Co. in downtown Helena today from noon to 2 p.m.

Reporter Martin Kidston: 447-4086 or kidston@helenair.com