Delays, Distractions, Illness
The recovery and resumption of anything resembling “real” or “normal” life after our return from the UK and the Coast to Coast walk has been… slow. Difficult. Ongoing, even as I sit here writing. Only in the past few days has my left knee finally started to feel like its old self—no pain, no stiffness, no subtle reminder of all those miles. Getting back into a rhythm, especially with photography, has been more of a struggle than I anticipated. There have been challenges. First, the long-anticipated kitchen remodel began just a few days after we got home. Then, classes at the medical school start this week, so I’ve been picking up shifts and completing the requisite training. Plus, I’ve also put in a couple of long weeks at the gallery, 4 days straight—it is almost like I am working again—damn!. It’s been busy, yes—but not the kind of busy that feels “normal.”
Any remodel brings a certain amount of chaos and disruption. On a friend’s advice, we’re approaching these weeks as if we were “camping,” living out of a pared-down kitchen setup. Food preparation has been a challenge, but less so than I feared. The real challenge has been maintaining focus amid the noise, dust, and disruption. Work gets done, but it’s not photography work.
We’ve adopted a mantra: “forbearance, fortitude, and flexibility.” It’s served us well—except when I came down with a particularly nasty summer cold just over a week ago. I’m still wrestling with the remnants of it. I passed it on to Therese (sorry, Therese), and it was bad enough that I missed the August Analog Saturday at the gallery—the second meeting in a row.
In between coughing fits, I’ve been working on new versions of my books—well, zines might be the better word. I sent a new edition of Urban Visions off for printing. When it arrived, my first thought was that the print was too dark. A few days later, I decided the printing was fine; the images themselves were darker in this version. I like them that way, but it’s left me wondering: what changed? The digital version is now linked at the bottom of my Urban Visions portfolio, for the curious.
I’ve also started gathering images for a new zine based on Stranger in a Strange Land. I’m still in the early stages—experimenting with new post-processing looks, liking the results, and slowly refining the series into a cohesive whole. I’m actually excited to see this one printed.
Meanwhile, the long-awaited Epson Perfection V850 Pro scanner finally came back into stock and is now sitting, unopened, in my office. It will stay that way until the remodel is done—too much dust in the air to risk it. I’d hoped the arrival of the scanner would be the last domino to fall before resuming my analog work, but that will have to wait a little longer.
So, there’s the smoke from Canadian wildfires, hot and humid weather, lingering cold symptoms, gallery shifts, medical school shifts and, of course, the remodel—each one a perfectly acceptable “reason” to not go out shooting, even with the iPhone—and I have not done much shooting at all. A friend, after hearing my frustrations, told me, “Work will come. Have faith.” I’m holding onto that. In the meantime, I’ll keep working on this website and shaping the new zines.
There is some new work—see below:
