January 27, 2011

Solitude

I have recently been giving a lot of thought to my life and my photography.


We were asked in photography school to describe where we felt we were at in our photography. My statement was...


I feel like I'm treading water in the middle of the ocean. I can't see any land around me. I'm tired, frustrated and becoming impatient. If only I knew what direction was the right direction, I would have something to work for.




This statement is just as true for my everyday life as it is with my photography. It's a pretty big world to feel lost in!


Recently I have been spending a lot of time going through my photos from the past couple of years. I've been to some amazing places, seen some awesome sites and met some incredible people. But looking through my photos, I feel there is something missing. Your life finds its way into your art, whether you like it or not. There is a subconscious reason why you shoot what you shoot or why you see the way you see. And as I look through my shots I notice a common theme. There is a sense of solitude and loneliness that can be found in most of my photos.


I have been reading "127 Hours" by Aron Ralston and there was one paragraph that really hit home for me and can probably describe it better than I ever could. It says....


"These places, and the experiences I had in them, were mine and mine alone. The senses of solitude, ownership, and place that I felt on these trips were creating a private world that, by definition, was impossible to share. Nevertheless, I tried. I took photographs and posted online albums of my trips; however the images failed. They were unsuccessful because they were removed in time and location from what I went through to be IN that place AT that time. To a person sitting in an office or a living room, a picture of a winter mountain sunset is just a picture. To me, it was the experience of taking the picture."




Below I have posted some of my own photos that pertain to what is written above.


























December 16, 2010


I look out the window,

The birds are composing.

Not a note is out of tune

Or out of place



-Jon Foreman

October 18, 2010

How Can You Expect A Man To Live In A Cage When He's Had The Taste Of Freedom?

So your home town's bringing you down,
Are you drowing in the small talk
and the chatter?

Are you gonna step into line like your daddy done
Punching the time and climbing life's long ladder?
One of these days it's gonna be right soon
You'll find your legs and go and stay gone.

Young man full of big plans and thinking about tomorrow.
Young man going to make a stand
You beg, steal you borrow.
You beg you steal you borrow.

Well all the friends that you knew in school
They used to be so cool and they just bore you.
Well look at them now, already pulling the plow
So quick to take to grain and some moarn you.

Dreaming of the day
You're gonna pack your bags
Put the miles away.
Oh, just grab your girl and go
Where no one knows you
What will all the old folks say?

Young man full of big plans and thinking about tomorrow.
Young man going to make a stand
You beg, steal you borrow.
You beg you steal you borrow.


RAY LAMONTAGNE
"Beg Steal Or Borrow"
















August 29, 2010

No Idea Where I'm Going


As I walk down the mountain,
I know I'll find my way home.
And though I have no idea where I'm going,
I know I'll find my way home.
It's nice when weather's getting back,
I get so cold I get nervous.
It's nice where I don't know where I am
I get so scared I start to wonder
Who I am
Or why I'm on this mountain.
-Ace Enders-
"I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business"

June 22, 2010



Why not sit down and rest?
I am so tired, yet I feel like I haven't even moved.
Each step seems like a mirrored recurrence of the one before.
Nothing changes. I am no closer to arriving.
But where am I going?
What am I searching for?
So many questions that I'm convinced don't have answers.
But there's one truth I can tell myself with complete confidence.
I am not running away;
I am simply in search of something better.
.
.
.
Ron Orman Jr.