I was born lost and take no pleasure in being found

Back in June, I spent a few days in North Dakota visiting many new places and some I had been inspired by on a previous trip during the spring of 2013, places like Antler, only a few miles from a very quiet Canadian Border, and Devil’s Lake, a natural phenomenon that has grown exponentially over the last few decades due to changing climate. The weather spent almost the entire time I was on the road threatening to due something but politely holding back when I needed it, for the most part.

All of these images are part of a yet-untiled Great Plains project that is taking shape in my mind with photographs from the past decade of wanderings. I think I’m nearing the point that I will call the making photographs portion of it done, and then I’ll focus on making something out of it for a book and unveiling at a group show at Gallery 1516 here in Omaha next year.

It’s just about time for something new. What that is and how that works - I am not entirely sure. That’s the (mostly) fun part of all of this and why I’ve kept at it for a good 15 years so far.

Post title: John Steinbeck - Travels with Charley: In Search of America

Everything is flat and empty here

I’ve been back in Omaha for a few days and have begun the task of going through all of the images I created during my road trip last week. After every trip like this, I go through cycles of both satisfaction and unhappiness with what I managed to capture. At the moment, I’m mostly on board with the bulk of what I see in the images.

Texas was the last part of the American portion of the Great Plains that I had yet to explore. These photographs will ultimately be part of a larger project that I have been working on for a number of years now, something that is either almost finished or needs more thought.

I’ll figure out, eventually.

Post title: The Last Picture Show (1971)

West of the Pecos

Two more days spent photographing West Texas - Amarillo south to Odessa, west to Sierra Blanca, then southeast to Alpine. It’s hard to grasp just how big this state is until you begin to explore in the not-so-straight lines that I enjoy and places that seem close together on a map are much farther apart than they appear.

A fun and perhaps surprising fact - Texas is actually taller than it is wide. It measures 801 miles from the top of the panhandle to the Rio Grande River in Big Bend National Park. It is a mere 773 miles from the eastern edge to El Paso.

I just got them four lanes of hard Amarillo highway

I’m on the road to explore West Texas, my first adventure since getting fully vaccinated late last month. Tonight finds me in Amarillo, a mythical place in my mind due to lots of outlaw country songs and Stephen Shore’s postcards.

Heading south tomorrow with little plans for where I’m headed. Sometimes that’s the best sort of day.

Post title: Terry Allen - Amarillo Highway