I was driving from LA to SF after a long weekend of work there this past weekend. I LOVE driving the I-5. Most people really hate it, but the mundane, landscape always inspires me somehow. This time, though there was road work so it was a bit more arduous with traffic slowly bottlenecking to one lane not once but two times in the 300 some odd miles. And it was hot. So my mind was wandering and I began thinking about all the things I have been shooting. I am so fortunate. I get to shoot beautiful, amazing places and people all the time. It almost seems easy. Of course it isn't really, but you know what I mean? I started to think "You need to do shoot something you would never shoot. You need to challenge yourself." This has been rolling around in my brain ever since. There are so many things I just have no desire to shoot at all. Maybe I should try and shoot those things just to push myself and my work. Self assignments are so valuable. Handcrafted Modern was basically a self assignment! Photographing ugliness is not the right way to put it, but I am compelled by this idea of shooting things I have no desire to shoot. Maybe it will be the most interesting thing I have ever done...I wonder how it will make me feel?
When I was sitting in stopped traffic, with sweat dripping down my ribs I realized I was in a stretch of the I-5 I always want to stop, but never can. SO here are two pics just out my window. I didn't notice that beautiful bit of roadkill in the first one. A bonus! Clearly I don't consider roadkill ugly. ; )
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leslie , this idea and project will deal with the wide field of awesome sadness, maybe standard specs of u.s. sadness in color and form - that might be juxtaposed to the one in lets say the lombardy or in villages along the rhine.
ReplyDeletean interesting thought, Carl! I am excited by the possibilities...
Deletein human aesthetics they say we search for signs of health in a symmetrical face. I don't know if the scorched and wilting plants in my piece of the world are 'ugly' but there are sending a message of the lack of health. I don't think the desert is ugly and also I may not know the signs of it being in distress or not. Is distress ugly,or as said above, awesome sadness.
ReplyDeleteI think "ugly" is such a subjective thing really. I see beauty in everyrthing, but I don't want to photograph everything. I am drawn to photographing very specific things. So my thinking is to maybe shoot those things that I have no desire to shoot. I'm still not sure what this will turn out to be. As for the desert, and even dead plants for that matter. LOVE it. Taking pictures of flowers? sounds boring as anything...who knows where it will lead. Thanks for your thoughts Sara.
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