Taking Photos in Your Backyard

Looking at what's in front of you (and behind).

One of my biggest crutches as an artist is the ability to convince myself, that to make good work, I have to be far from home. Maybe it’s a mental clarity thing. I can’t focus unless the distractions from my daily life are miles behind me. But working this way has only gotten me so far.

While me and my partner lived in Colorado, this escape was easy. Drive 20 miles in any direction of our house and you’d be surrounded by mountains or sprawling plains most likely on public land. Living on the East Coast is different. Drive 20 miles and it takes you twice if not three times as long to get there, and you’re either looking at suburban sprawl or beautiful private farmland. The idea of creation has changed, or, needs to change.

What do you do?

The stereotypical conclusion that beauty has, in fact, been all around you this whole time, is too… lame. This current moment of discovery is more tied to identity and self than it is to seeing things in a new light. Who am I? Who am I here? My favorite photographers and books usually have one thing in common: self-assurance. The work is about communicating who the artist is, not what the artist likes.

Every project is personal!

Now let’s shift focus, slightly.

I’m constantly bouncing back-and-forth in my head about where to focus my energy. YouTube? Photography? YouTube about Photography?

So let’s talk about the ‘Tube.

I’m always “working” on a YouTube video. What starts as a few golden hour b-roll shots, eventually, hopefully, turns into a full video. But the story always comes later, and the majority of the videos on my channel don’t necessarily have a story. The idea was always to only create a vibe and make it peaceful.

This new change in scenery has inspired me to look deeper inside myself to find the actual story of whats going on.

So that’s what I’m doing; walking around town, exploring trails near our house, meeting people and taking portraits (still working on this one).

This current video I’m working on should be done in a few weeks.

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Some recent photo projects I’ve been inspired by:

Raymond Meeks - Ciprian Honey Cathedral

Raymond Meeks - Ciprian Honey Cathedral - 2020

Judith Joy Ross - Eurana Park, Weatherly, Pennsylvania

Judith Joy Ross - Eurana Park, Weatherly, Pennsylvania - 1982

Some recent films I’ve been inspired by:

Stop Making Sense directed by Jonathan Demme

Stop Making Sense - Jonathan Demme - 1984

After Hours directed by Martin Scorsese

After Hours - Martin Scorsese - 1985

See you next week.

Logan