I have always been a person who moves with intent. I like a plan, a specific purpose, a "why" that anchors my "how." So, taking my camera out for a walk last week with absolutely no objective felt, quite frankly, counterintuitive. It felt uncomfortable.
If I were to play into that feeling, the nagging sense that I shouldn’t be creating unless I know exactly what I’m aiming for, my camera would simply sit on the shelf and collect dust. I’m learning, slowly, to press into that discomfort rather than let it discourage me. I’m learning that the "point" doesn't always have to be decided before I leave the house.
I am at a stage where I’m embracing the fact that I genuinely enjoy various creative mediums. Some might invoke the old "Jack of all trades, master of none" mantra, but, I must say, I respectfully disagree. What does it mean to master something anyway? Especially in art. We are always growing; our styles ever shifting. We are constantly building upon the foundation, going back to the basics and the spark that led us there in the first place.
Photography has been growing on me as an art for a few years now. It started as a necessity: taking styled photos of my handmade products with my phone, but it has evolved into a desire to offer a different, more personal perspective.
On this walk, despite the lack of plan, I ended up with one shot that I truly love and feel proud of.
This is the first image I'm sharing from this journey. It is a close-up of a lamppost; mundane, yet in this edit, it feels solid enough to stand alone. There is a specific nostalgia in the color and the light; the residential background evokes the feeling of summer in a Michigan beach town.
Welcome to the start of this evolving archive.
—G.