Travel enough and you will eventually meet yourself. I recently read that somewhere but I doubt it is possible to meet an ever changing self. I am changing every day. I can feel my mind changing, I witness my views on the world and life changing. Fundamentally.
A changed me means a changed vision. My passion and interest now lies in capturing people. People, faces, emotions and everyday lives in remote areas. Indeed, a radical departure for me but things change, thankfully. People and travel photography now holds the greatest challenge and interest for me. Borneo, Laos and Papua New Guinea and a new me have been large factors in this move. I captured thousands of people images in Papua New Guinea and this woman illustrates my approach. Unaware of the camera for a spell I try to offer a glimpse into her world. As I improve I hope to offer a glimpse into the soul, the thoughts, the feelings.
I still love my landscapes but I feel they need a rest, I have “done” them for now. My seven days in Death Valley, USA, in May 2010 feels like the ultimate conclusion of my landscape quest. The Search for Perfection in Wide Open Spaces. Perfection turned out to be, ultimately, magical and gorgeous, but also boring and empty. No running, no hiding, I no longer need to ‘Escape in Landscapes’ nor get lost Into The Wild. I will however always treasure the images from the quest:
Presently, my landscape work is moving to a very minimalistic style and sometimes featuring altered landscapes, altered by man. I am exploring how much I can remove from the frame and still have an image left. Shooting flat, square, into the horizon, straight lines, few leading lines, few colours and possible only one simple subject. An exercise in simplicity. An exercise in creating a great image out of something that is not an obvious pretty image.
The exercise in people, travel and ethno-photography is however my main passion and project and will be for a long time as I wish to venture into humanitarian photography. I therefore very much look forward to the next three weeks of capturing people images in Cambodia, Thailand and Laos honing my skills. I look forward to the challenges, the challengers and forever changing and learning. I do admit to also look forward to creating a new home and base. I have soon been homeless enough for now and am quite tired and stretched thin. I am dangerously close to turning the extraordinary into the ordinary. I have seen too much. Yes a new home will be nice.
Flemming
