23 » Pretty photos without a purpose

What am I trying to say?

I'm constantly worried about this. I spent a lot of time in the archive this past week hoping for something to pop out at me. Not any one photo, there are plenty of nice photos, but for a theme to pop out. A point of view. An opinion.

The Book is on my mind. It's time to start putting real time into the photo book before the memory of my Rambler travels starts to fade. I've started by spending more time in the archive looking for visual motifs. I guess I was hoping for something to shine through, blindingly apparent, to show me the way. That hasn't happened. I've rekindled some nice memories, found some nice photos to edit and save away, but the deeper themes aren't there just in the images.

I'll need to start with the words. I've got a head start there. Back in December I did a mentor session with a photographer I respect who helped me work through the ideas I wanted to talk about in the book. I'm just as much a writer at heart as I am a photographer, so the book was always going to lean on words with the same weight.

The book will be three essays with a set of photos to match. I think the words need to come first, then the photos will follow.

If I'm being honest I've been avoiding this project. It feels too big. Intimidating. I feel out of practice with my writing since the beginning of this year has been so hectic. But this is the project I've been looking forward to. No matter how I distract myself, the book is the end goal. So it's time to get to work.

"This is beautiful" has never been enough for me. I always want to say more with my work, not just show nature off. The photos shown above are good examples of what I've found looking through the archives. They are from Petrified Forest National Park back in December 2021. Driving from Taos to California for Christmas I stopped over at this relatively unknown national park for some hiking and photography. It was gloriously underrated. Innocuous.

I have some really nice images from that night, but what do they say other than, "here is a nice sunset?" Is it overthinking to want more out of a sunset photo? The context makes it more interesting, a random stopover leading to a brilliant sunset. A place along the journey. But is it forced or is it obvious?

When put together with other images it could mean something more, but looking through the archive alone doesn't give me the cohesion I need. Hence, me needing to start with the essays.

This is the process. A messy jumbled mess of overthinking, searching, and worrying through ideas until the form shows itself. One of the biggest challenges with this book is the fact that I've already shot all the material. There is no going back out and shooting more to fill out missing ideas. The point is it being a reflection of the trip, so I have to use what I've got. I'm hoping it turns into a positive creative constraint. I'm hoping my past self pulls through.

Does this read as a bit despairing? I hope not, because that's not how I'm feeling. I dig this shit. I'm pushing further than I've dared to go before with this book project and I'm hopeful for how it will turn out.

Stillnotes will often be my journal during this project. Working through photos, edits, words as I put it all together. It's a nice way to formalize some of this process.

Hope you enjoy it. There will be plenty of non-book related images shared still (so much Norway editing lately), so there's plenty of pure photo goodness to come. If there's anything about the book project you'd be excited to learn about let me know.

See ya next week.

—Al