Anatomy of a Composition - Oh, they Slumber

Sometimes the events and moments seem serendipitous, and sometimes they seem like a curse. I’d passed by this grove at least a dozen times over the years.  It isn’t a remote location, or even that hard to reach, it’s just that it’s easier to pass right by it. Tanner and I first explored it briefly, then the three (four with Scout, the boys other brother) of us made a few consecutive camping trips to the river gorge just below this spot.  

That was the serendipity - happily exploring the outdoors, feeling that we’d made a wild discovery and that we were alone in this huge space all to our own. There should have been trips there, but other places needed to be explored, and parts of the state needed to be seen. 

It would be another 10 years before I was able to return to this spot, though it never left my mind - and that is the curse. I spend much of the in between wondering why there hadn’t been more trips, wondering why there hadn’t been more opportunities. Re-entering this route on a motorcycle was like waking from a heavy, disorienting dream. The familiarity clashed with the confusion.  Which turnout was it? Is it really this far? Those thoughts dragged the grief to the surface, but at least on the surface there was a chance to catch one's breath. 

In the deepest gulps I would drink it all in, trying to catch my senses before plunging back down into the curse. There were certainly moments of joy, small vignettes, just peeking around the curtain to see the laughter and smile flash - forgetting about the confusion and dislocation - and then it would crash back in. 

I shot this scene during one of those moments, one of those gulps of fresh air, but was driven back down just moments later. Most of the photography from the past four years has been created in that way, in those gulps - the photography bringing the calm in the face of so many mistakes. Now when I go back to this location, and some of the others, it feels like they are still in slumber - that for a brief respite they were alive and vibrant, but have fallen dormant again. 

January, 2021 - As always, thank you for the support and thank you for joining me on this journey.

For more thoughts on some of these images, head over to www.wordpress.com/alma175w  

Anatomy of a Composition - Oh, they Slumber - ISO 50 • F/1.8 • 1/8000 sec. FE 135GM