A New Series

I didn’t need a Stanford study to tell me that walking boosts creativity. Morning walks part the clouds of my mind. Ideas come easily. Alone is best, no conversation to maintain and steer my thoughts to any specific target. A recent photo series came from morning walks with friends.

“We’re going for a run! The Diva Half Marathon is coming to Peachtree City. Who’s in?” popped up on my Facebook feed.

I was in. I was always in. I love a challenge.

The publisher of a local magazine, a friend, gathered other friends to begin training for the event. Early morning walks around a lake and along wooded cart paths became a habit. To track our progress, a few of us brought along our phones. Since I just completed an exhibit of iPhone only images it was a natural next step to shoot an image from the walk. What began as simple documentation of scenes along the path grew as I completed two half marathons within five months and compiled a large collection of images for a new exhibit.

During this training period our local lake dam revealed structural issues when the lake water level was lowered to allow repairs and to give waterfront homeowners the opportunity to complete any dock work on their personal properties. Typical local government red tape and finger pointing left the lake low and dry around the edges for months. A sub-series presented from the usual Morning Walk images; Where The Water Used To Be. Drawn to the power of nature reclaiming what it once owned, I walked the dry places looking for what was there. I became fascinated watching a field of tall grass grow. Flowers sprouted from seeds washed by earlier rains to the lake. Deer run through the grass flipping their tails. It was hard to leave this and not be in a good mood. It was also hard to not shoot images.

Photos from these collections will be on exhibition in Columbus, Georgia at the Rankin Arts Photography Center October 2-31, 2015. Please join me at the reception on October 9 from 6-8pm