Photography

Photography is more an active endeavour than a passive one. You take a photo by placing yourself in front of your subject – you move in small ways aligning camera and lens to subject, and at other times, you move in terms of distances travelled, large and small, to photograph your subject. The word endeavour has work at its core, perhaps even … sustained work, linked to achieving a goal.

In 2009 – 2010, I stumbled upon the photo-a-day challenge, an active pursuit in which a would-be photographer can engage in photography and evolve skills needed to take, edit, and present photos. Over time, the photos created would become stepping stones from which one could look back and consider emerging questions about photography that one was ready to have answered when they had consolidated (put together and understood) the question to be asked. Add exposure to others’ photography, and questions would then be about how photographers brought together an image and their intention to present it in the way they had. Photography in a 365-day, photo-a-day pursuit would become step-by-step, emergent learning. As a favourite ‘Motivation to Move’ podcaster, Scott Smith puts it, all you’d need to do is ‘Stand up, take a step, and repeat … until you’ve reached the goal of your dreams.’

Investigating what others had to say about photo-a-day challenges, Woody Campbell surfaced as a photographer with an interesting tack. In Woody’s ‘1 Photo Every Day’ website, you’ll find that Woody has resolved to ‘… take one photograph every day for the rest of [his] life (www.woodycampbell.com)’ and that, at the time of writing, he has done so for thirteen years. He posts his images in a format of day number since he began photographing for this project – his post for Friday, 30 June 2023, while having a small statement descriptor, also notes the post as ‘Day 5006 of photograph every day for the rest of my life;’ in each post he also presents a look-back image – an image to recall and share.

What is there, though, is Woody’s commitment to photo-a-day image-making, and for the would-be photographer, in addition to Woody’s engaging and captivating photography, an arms-length camaraderie and inspiration in like-endeavour are to be found. Because he engages in this work, you are joining him in like-endeavour.

My trek through the photo-a-day project that this WordPress blog sprang from today finds me sifting through 1100+ edited images taken since 2021 that have not been posted, images that were destined for this ‘In My Back Pocket Photography’ blog. As a teacher now in summer, I am enjoying the post-race wind-down following a ten-month marathon with students, staff, and parents, a school year saturated with people, planning, teaching, and testing. However, through the school year, while I have continued to take photos on an almost daily basis, the matter of posting photos has many steps along its way and my posting stats disappoint grievously.

In this third week of July, I am surfacing to a less other-focused Life, something Frank McCourt refers to in his biography, ‘Teacher Man,’ as all that time off, abbreviated as ‘a.t.t.o.’. All that time off allows me to consider and return to personal pursuits and one of them is posting on this blog. At present, the situation gives me the opportunity to consider and present to you ‘points of departure’ as Dorothea Lange states it (via Ralph Gibson) – the common themes or projects I tend to photograph as I review images moving forward since 2021.

Current Points of Departure (2021 to present, Summer 2023)

Along Northern Roads – Alberta

Winter Walks / Cycling in High Level, Alberta

Dunvegan Historic Site and Dunvegan Bridge – Alberta

Edmonton, Alberta

Fort Vermilion, Alberta

Grain Elevators

Industrial Area (Morning Rides – Winter and Summer) – High Level

Peace River Area, Alberta

Trains

Quotes & Concepts to Consider & Inspire

Oubaitori – (1) ‘the idea that people, like flowers, bloom in their own time and in their individual ways (Victoria Ericksen);’ (2) ‘the meaning of oubaitori is that, instead of comparing ourselves to other people, we should be focusing on our own growth, and valuing what makes us special (https://vocab.chat/blog/japanese-oubaitori.html).’

“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the ‘question’ (Eugene Ionesco).”

‘Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic and power in it (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe).’

‘You’ve got what it takes, but it will take everything you’ve got.’ – Anonymous

‘I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go (Langston Hughes).’

Listening to: David Gray’s ‘Sail Away,’ Martyn Joseph’s ‘One Step Up,’ Over the Rhine’s ‘Who Will Guard the Door,’ Amanda Marshall’s ‘Believe in You,’ Van Morrison’s ‘Behind the Ritual,’ and Billy Joel’s ‘This is the Time.’

On the final day of 2022, I drove from Lethbridge in southern Alberta to High Level in northern Alberta, a long fourteen- to fifteen-hour journey. As a return drive, I had started early, reached Edmonton just after noon, and continued northward through the day. In that time, I concluded my listening to an intriguing audiobook, ‘The Splendid and the Vile’ by Erik Larson, about Winston Churchill written recently and with access to documentation from previously unavailable sources; the book compiles memoirs and correspondences into a more intimate view of Winston’s world – Britain and its people, colleagues, family, friends, brokered loyalties, and royalty – all at a time of war, World War II.

Near 9:00 p.m., my drive brought me to Manning, Alberta, where I fueled my Corolla, got snacks and began the last leg of my journey home. Northward, cresting the hill leading out of Manning, clouds in the night sky reflected bright, red-orange light. As I drove toward the Manning airport (ahead, on my left), flames reached high into the sky.

A building was burning, not at the airport, but at a farm on land immediately preceding the airport. The building was one I had considered photographing through the years. But it had been dressed down. While the overall shape and architectural style held interest, the building’s windows were boarded up, and the structure had been painted a dark chocolate brown. It was more a dark brown brick than architectural interest worthy of a photograph.

A week later, driving south, the building was absent. Nothing remained. The area, where the building had stood, was flat, cleared of debris and now offered a clear, unimpeded view from the farm home out to the service road and highway. Winter likely had been the safest time to burn this farm building, and burning the structure may have been the most efficient way to remove it.

Listened to: Erik Larson’s ‘The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz.’

Quotes to Inspire (1) ‘I walk, I look, I see, I stop, I photograph (Leon Levinstein).’ (2) ‘Photography must be integrated with the story (James Wong Howe).’