108 project. John Muir Way, Torness. 2011

It was cold, it was wet, it was dark. But I still have a fondness for my 108 series. This image was made at the end of the route walking from the East Coast of Scotland to the West along the border (line).
This particular image never even made the final edit, but the relief of finishing the trip still resides each time I look at it.

?

LA. Jan 2020

What may seem at first to be a simple run of the mill image from my vehicular Landscape series is in fact something which has taken me over a year to produce.
The devastating Woolsey fire in November 2019 was a horrendous event made only worse by the onslaught of idiots and media whores trying to snap a celebrity returning to their burnt down house somewhere in Malibu. As a place we frequented every weekday it was both shocking and sad and took sometime before we made that first trip through the burnt hills and witness the full scale and devastation the fires left behind.
The image above represents one of the last (thankfully) remaining reminders of the fires that year. As the charred land renewed itself the burnt out car became rust and left the question, what happened here?

Sometimes I need to remind myself  that a photograph should always ask a question..

Lets get started.

Whether mentoring MFA students or lecturing on what it means to be a photographer, I always enjoy the return to basic photography 101. The simplicity of working with a roll of black and white film, processing it, and the final printing stage still triggers those happy times when I was careless and fancy free with only a 35mm camera for company.
I always like to start the semester undertaking the same project as my students and this year was no exception.
So few students these days will ever know the skills required to make photographs way back when everything had to be done by hand and took a long time and the camera didn't do everything for you.
I do believe that technology (logy; meaning sluggish) often only serves to make people lazy, and photography is no different.
Sometimes its good to start from the very beginning.

A DAY IN THE DESERT.

The dusty desert roads of the Mojave are still calling, so much so that a new series has been created;
A Day In The Desert. 
Sticking with the 6-17 format has given the project what it needed as the long format, unique contrast, vignetting on the edges and other goodies is something which cannot be easily replicated digitally.
Technically the project is a total departure from my past work. Shooting in the middle of the day in bright sunshine and hand holding is a bit like shooting with a big fat compact camera from the 80's. But as I always say; "It doesn't matter how you get there...Just get there."

As an Englishman I have always believed that, like a long country stroll, a day out with a camera should always end with some kind of small reward. With me, and many others, this usually involves food or some kind of beverage be it coffee, tea, or even a fruity cocktail.

  Mojave 2020.

Long live the Road Trip in all it comfort food goodness..