August 2024 - Rolls 192-194
As I stood on the beach that glorious Saturday afternoon in July, I had the distinct thought that What My Left Hand is Doing was coming to an end. It had been almost a year since I began the project, and the climax of the summer seemed like a perfect way to finish out this period in my photography—one final high note amongst the many high notes I'd experienced during that time. I felt very good about my work and what I'd learned in the previous months, especially the takeaway that I do indeed make art for myself rather than for validation on social media; when I choose to share photos or writing I don't have to be worried about how it will be received, but can be confident in my experiences and interpretation of the world around me, trusting that I am conveying the meaning I find in these things to others. So, since I had now resolved most of the issues I had wanted to address through this project, I knew it was probably coming to a close, and I was correct, as the photos I took in August form a perfect coda to this body of work.
I often find myself taking an unintentional break from photography following our summer vacation; this is due primarily to the fact that I usually shoot more in a week at the beach than I do at home in a month, and so my creative brain needs a rest after such intensive art-making. Last August, this photo-exhaustion was compounded by Malia and I moving apartments at the beginning of the month (a pattern we reluctantly repeated this year), and so it wasn't until the third weekend of the month that I, feeling the need to be out in the Ordered World, took my camera and started driving down to Bremen, Indiana, a place I had never been. Throughout the several hours I spent exploring I shot three rolls of film, covering frequent subjects like cemeteries, houses, and parking lots while enjoying the summer warmth and afternoon light. As the epilogue to What My Left Hand is Doing, I couldn't have asked for a better experience—I was in my groove, confidently seeking out and finding creative compositions, strong subjects, and above all Transcendence waiting for me down every street and behind every building. This was the culmination of almost a year's worth of intentionality, but of course it wasn't the end, instead forming another facet of my ongoing immersion in the Ordered World, the great overarching narrative of my work. With that said, though, I do think that the two years I have spent on this project (first shooting the photos, then writing about them) have helped me grow stronger as an artist, and I have taken the lessons learned here—both aesthetic and meta-textual—and have utilized them in my process to good success. This set of images represents how far I've come and also points towards the future, and so I have nothing left to say other than that I am immensely proud of this body of work, and it is very satisfying to bring What My Left is Doing to a close with this blog!
Lamb's Settlement Cemetery, Lakeville, Indiana.
Lamb's Settlement Cemetery, Lakeville, Indiana.
Prairie View Landfill, Near Bremen, Indiana.
Prairie View Landfill, Near Bremen, Indiana.
Ozinga, Bremen, Indiana.
Ozinga, Bremen, Indiana.
Bremen, Indiana.
Douglas Road, Bremen, Indiana.
North Holland Street, Bremen, Indiana.
Bremen, Indiana.
Bremen, Indiana.
Woodie's Supermarket, Bremen, Indiana.
Woodie's Supermarket, Bremen, Indiana.
Grain Elevator—Wyatt, Indiana.
Town & Country Shopping Center, Mishawaka, Indiana.
It has been a great joy to write about my photos with such consistency in the last year, something I've felt I should try ever since my mentor Marc suggested the idea to me back in college. I have been rewarded with deeper insights into my photos, my process, and the Ordered World as a whole, and I want to continue to strengthen and improve this skill in the future. However, I don't plan to keep such a strict schedule of posting for the rest of this year, both because I need a break from the constant stress of having a blog ready every month, and because I have some other writing to do at this moment as I work on various ongoing projects. I have no doubt I will continue to write about my work as the year continues on, but my posts will undoubtedly be less frequent, especially as I begin to ponder whether all my photos benefit from this kind of analysis or if some (such as the phone project I have been making this year) deserve to stand on their own without words. No matter what, I will continue to seek Transcendence within the Ordered World, and I look forward to sharing my ongoing experiences here! Thank you for reading, and I hope that this series of blogs has been impactful in some small way to those who have kept up with them!