Somewhere along the way, I learned that the goal in photography was to make pictures about something rather than of something. In fact, I’m pretty sure I learned this axiom in multiple places and from multiple teachers or experts in the field. For a long time, I understood this to mean that that my photographs needed to be less concrete or maybe less superficial. They needed to express some theme or emotion. They needed to be meaningful, deep, evocative. For a while, this belief held me back, keeping me from just pointing my camera at what I noticed, as I paused to consider if the scene in the frame was, indeed, about something.
And then, as in most every learning journey, the fog began to lift and I could see my way clearly. The truth is this: I take pictures of what I am passionate about, what I am drawn to, what resonates with me, and most of the time, I have no idea why. At least, not in the moment. As I live with these pictures over time, returning to visit them like old friends, I begin to see connections between them. I can see how they relate and what meaning they hold for me. Just like relationships between friends, the connections between the pictures in a body of work are not always easy or obvious. The bonds are felt more than reasoned. And this is more than enough to tell a story or write a poem with pictures.
These two film photographs were taken in my hometown of Colonial Beach, Virginia. When I visit now, I am more tourist than local. In many ways, it is hard to watch the town grow—new condos going up and every spare inch of real estate being developed. But this will always be the place where I grew up. Where I swam in the river, had my first kiss, and graduated from high school. Where I returned week after week as long as my mother lived there. If it is home that grounds us, this will always be where I am rooted.