So sometimes you can go out and drive for hours, walk kilometers, spend so much time looking, and shooting, and looking and shooting and you come home to view literally 100’s of photos only to discover you have NOTHING that speaks to you…
Thats a part of the game, frustrating as it can be…
Then there’s the flip-side…
You head out with no particular goal in mind, not really looking for anything, you see something interesting, pop out and take a couple of dozen photos, only to get home and discover you’ve captured one of you best photos, and what might likely be in the top 10 photos you have ever captured.
That happened today.
Here in Twillingate there is group of buildings known as the Ashbourne property. Of very high historical importance, there are two large front buildings, a unique long house, the remains of a large commercial root cellar, I believe one of a kind. Sadly, there was a very beautiful main house as well that burned tragically last year…
I have passed by the property several times in my time here in Twillingate, always trying to see how I could frame a shot that would do this place justice. It’s a burden, to take a photo of well known and beloved properties and tell a story.
Today I decided to walk around the place and see what I could see.
I am a story teller. I strive to have my photos evoke emotion, attachment, wonder. I want people to look at my photos and get a FEELING, I want them to wander through the area I have framed and tell themselves a story about it, make a narrative. The happiest I am is when I post a photo and the comments mention things like, “…. it reminds me of….” or”… wouldn’t you love to know the story of….”
When photos engage people in internal conversation, they are a success.
THIS photo works for me. It is a story. It has life, it has tragedy, it has renewal, it has decay, it has balance and it has chaos…
THIS is my favorite photo from Twillingate, it combines all the themes I have been working on since my arrival. It has all the elements, the light, the texture… its 100% ME in a frame. It might not be YOUR favorite of my time here. The ever popular Stained Glass seems to hold that title but the photo above for me is the winner.
Here’s why, beyond the reasons I have already given. Stained Glass is a completely arranged photo. Intelligent and creative human hands placed EVERYTHING in that photo in a way that would showcase the items within, they were arranged to achieve maximum effect, It was by design, and I captured that wonderful skill and talent and it shows in the photo itself. It is a masterful piece of arrangement and it is dripping in nostalgia, it has balance, light, color…. everything that you want in a photo and I LOVE it..
BUT…
Into the Ruin just happened. Time, nature, the seasons, it all arranged this photo. It created the chaos that elevates this photo, it is a moment in time that could end tomorrow, or could last another decade. It is natural, progressive and while the hand of a human was in it at some point, it was a long time ago and what was placed there has been changed, moved, removed by all the external forces acting upon it.
This photo…
This is what I do it for… the feeling I had when I opened it, as I worked on it to bring out the details, shed light where it was needed, to tell a story and highlight what the photo was telling me was important. This photo was, and is, a revelation. It will inform my work moving forward.
And…
come on, who doesn’t like a cast iron pan?
Old Bones Photo 