This weekend I am camped in a hotel just off El Camino Real in Palo Alto, Silicon Valley as it is commonly know. Following weeks of 12 hour days my recent work culminated in two meetings in adjacent weeks, leaving a weekend between to kill. I packed a camera and some good intentions, but now that I have some free time I am at a loss as to what to do. This is partly to do with fatigue, but I think is a result of something much deeper.
As I walk around the vicinity of the hotel, I am in a place redolent of the photography of many that I admire, Shore, Eggleston, Friedlander, Adams, to mention a few. Everywhere I look there is asphalt and low lying buildings, the dystopian world of the American suburb. This is something I have dreamed of photographing, a study of modern America. However, it is not working for me, the landscape does not inspire or attract me to photograph it.
This has led to some introspection and the realization of something that has been growing in my mind for some time. I no longer think in terms of an individual image, my photography now comes in series, assignments of 12 photographs are a minimum, the photography book is my home. I cannot look at a scene and simply visualize a photograph, I need to understand the space from repeated visits and then build a visual framework that describes the area or concept I am developing.
This is a positive development, even if a little frustrating right now, as it means that my approach to photography is naturally embracing the idea of documentary as the medium in which I work.
I had an apartment on El Camino Real - jut opposite the naval base of West Moffatt ( can't remember if that's how it was spelt) and I know just what you are referring to; the place seems almost deserted of people - which if you were staying there for any time would perhaps be a project in itself. It is a soulless environment and just too far to make short trips to the Pacific coast or San Fran'.
ReplyDeleteWhat I did notice though is the discrepancy between the have's and have not's and how the two can seemingly coexist - an un-codified symbiotic relationship that allows both to exist with unwritten rules that are normally never crossed; a weird place.
The gulf between the wealthy and the poor is very visible here, just opposite a Maclaren car dealership an old lady was asking for quarters, I gave her a couple of bucks. It is truly a strange place and somewhere I cannot connect to emotionally and so struggle to take meaningful photographs. Am happy to visit once in a while, but would find it hard to live here.
DeleteIt's interesting how you can step into a particular mode gradually in that way. Now you've realised the shift I'm sure you'll progress even more quickly Shaun. Catherine
ReplyDeleteThanks Catherine, although not sure if this will speed progression as recently most of my assignments have taken 3-4 months to complete, rather than a couple of weeks as used to be the case. My approach now is to start the next assignment as soon as I complete the last, then use the projects to help build the content and ideas.
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