Life is full of chances, choices, experience and sometimes a little bit of luck. Our life is cumulative and where we are and how we respond to a situation can be influence by our experiences. An abandoned road in British Columbia and the rock walls right next to that road were my experiences on the first day of last year’s Photo Safari. We managed to gather some beautiful images before we left British Columbia because of the rain. A few days later we turned down a dirt road in Central Oregon. My side of the car was smack up against the rock wall of the Deschutes River Canyon. My roadside attraction of a few days earlier was still in my mind. I turned away from the vistas and became fascinated with the plant life hanging on to the steep basalt walls.
I would not have photographed the rock walls of the Deschutes River Canyon had I not remembered the recent photographs along the Fraser River. I was fascinated by the plants clinging to the side of the canyon and made those photographs into a project. The photographs were easy to assemble, but the only thing I could say about them was, “Hey, look at what I found!” Not exactly high art. I was stuck and needed to add some significant text to the project.
A few weeks later I was at the gym cycling my way to nowhere pondering the significance of my latest photographic project. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band began singing, “Hey there mister can you tell me what happened to the seeds I've sown?” Hearing those lyrics I thought about the seeds landing among the rock cliffs of the Deschutes River Canyon. I thought of the parables of seeds being sown on different types of ground. The photographs began to make sense. I had time to compose a new folio statement while finishing my ride to nowhere
Tuesday was Mardi Gras, Taco Tuesday and I figured out the introduction to my latest project.
Tuesday was a pretty good day.
The three projects mentioned in today's post are A Hard Land, Roadside Attraction and The Road No Longer Taken .
I updated my web site with a new presentation and a quicker way to access my publications and projects.
Please stop by and download some publications.
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