Quill in the Sky.

There is something about seeing a jet stream in the sky that inspires me. Putting aside the gas consumption and economics of these exorbitant vehicles, I find so much beauty in these threads across the sky. The roar they cause that shakes anything it passes. The silver dots of light that glare from it if you stare close enough. I picture them piercing through the sky with no concern of what is going on in the earth below its wings. That is why I see these machines as an instrument to a heavenly place. Why haven't I done some work about this yet?

Caught in the headlights

This is a recent study from a series I have been working on for the past year called Indebted. The series is a look into the contributions we get from who's around us during the progression of our lives. Either it be from loved ones or total strangers. This portraiture is the result of working on this body of work. During this process I kept seeing this image in my head while out at my workshop. Not far from burial site of the head of this bison. This vision of my father's body with the bison's head keeps repeating in my head. I spent the past few weeks reproducing this hallucination into a still image and it is a product of my current unsettlement.

Natural Selection

Well, a problem has arisen with my latest project. The storm we had a week ago caused a tree to collapse onto the tree that was holding my camera. This tree that fell seems to be the only one in sight that fell. Why this one? Unlucky? I was planning on documenting the natural disintegration of the bison head, but nature decided not to allow this. Im not sure how to read this. Part of creating a body of work is trying to build with what is presented to you. So I feel that I should keep going no matter what happens to the series. The camera is busted, but i guess I could always get another one. The question is, is this project worth the time, effort and budget required to finish it?

Chrono-documentation

For a while I have been working on a series that i feel is grown much more than I expected. At first it was only still photography. Now it has moved to video and hopefully to instillation. The most recent incarnation of this series has been taking place in the woods. Since I didn’t want to bury the latest head I used for the series, I decided to put it under the tree to let nature take it back. Not only that, but I used a motion activated camera to document what or who ever comes by to investigate. Here are just a few images from the first week. I am hoping this will go on for a few months.

Deer


Red Tailed Hawk


Human


Here is the Image I got from the head before I placed it in the woods.



I also have a video I did of me burying the last buffalo head. I plan to use it in an instillation along with the images from the motion sensor camera.

Fake Holiday

I started documenting these places about a year ago. I felt that once I had an image of every holiday aisle for a year at Walgreen's, then it would be complete, but it seems to need more. I should start bringing my equipment into other stores and see how they sell the holidays.

James R Southard