Sign – © John Neel
I often return to the same places to photograph. Certain places attract me for reasons I do not know.
Except, I find that when I go there, I usually find an image that I did not or could not have seen the day before or will not see tomorrow. And I will probably never see it again exactly the way it is at any given moment. There are many places that are simply great locations to be. Within these magical places are great opportunities to photograph every time I visit them.
These places are not far off exotic locations, nor are they places that are landmark photogenic. Rather, I am talking about places close at hand, just down the road and in my own back yard. In most cases, they are probably pretty ordinary. If you can call anyplace ordinary. I happen to believe everything is pretty amazing.
Tree – © John Neel
In part, I am speaking of the changes that take place because the earth has arrived at a new point in space and the resulting light, the atmosphere and the season have altered the way things appear. There are days when I rush to see what those changes look like because I know that the light will produce a new image that I’ll feel the urge to capture with a camera.
The images accompanying this post have all been taken at the same location. In fact, they were all taken only feet apart. They are different because everything around them is different from day-to-day, from hour-to-hour and minute-to-minute. Obviously I looked in a different direction or chose a different subject. But the place itself always seems to be full of imaging opportunities that I can photograph.
While these images seem to be mostly about clouds, I have shot images of the fields, the hay, the grasses and flowers that also exist here along with deer, fox and coyote. At night, I have shot the stars and the moon from this same spot. I have images of the stream that parallels the field, apple trees that line the road and I sometimes go there to shoot the grasshoppers, butterflies, crows or the hawks. I have produced many art images and experimental works here as well. Over time, I have shot film as well as digital and used almost every kind of camera and lens. On occasions, I have shot it with a pinhole camera or in infrared. A good number of the images used in many of my other posts were created in close proximity to this particular spot.
Clouds – © John Neel
It’s not that I don’t own a car or that I can’t drive or walk to other locations, I make images in all kinds of places. In fact, I shoot everywhere I go. Rather it is because I know that this place will usually provide plenty to shoot.
And while most places can offer similar opportunities, this one happens to be at my own back door. And because it is so convenient, I intend to be there as often as I can.
The wonderfiul thing about this planet is that everything is transformed by the hours of the day, the season and the light. The flow of life transitions continuously.
Those clouds we saw a minute ago have moved on, the wind changes, the light shifts and the day evolves. Everything is in flux and everything is beautiful.
The world does not stop for us. Time is a series of ever-changing nowness. As image-makers, we need to understand that what we see in the now will be different in the next. The transitions we experience are life itself. Those transitions can be experienced in the places that you are and in any now you happen to be.
You can read about my book “Rethinking Digital Photography” here. Please have a look at some of my other posts here.
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