New West

Burnt Forest

I came across this burnt forest on my way into the park and got sucked in. I think its enchanted...I'm car camping down a dirt road beneath the peak in the top picture. The forest is right on the border between the park and the reservation. I'm thinking about incorporating pictures from the border of the park into my a broader project on the Blackfeet. Any thoughts? P.S. Does it make me a dark person that I find this burnt forest deeply beautiful? lol. 

No Place Like this

....not even Wyoming. 
...just plain gitty to be back in Montana. 

Don't let this happen to you

But wait...they were just hanging out at the pump on Monday night....

...but sure enough, on tuesday their car had been appropriated for a gorilla marketing scheme at an auto salvage yard. I've seen it happen all to often...

Love of Diners

Wyoming
Ohio
Colorado
I love diners. Thats it. But, country diners in particular. 

(Hyper) Wildlife

We are so into our "wildlife" out west, aren't we? 

Art Speaking for Itself

I was so intrigued by the art outside this man's house, that when he came out to chat with me, I didn't even ask him any questions about it. I sort of preferred to be pleasantly mystified about it, and to make up my own stories to explain it. If part of the American dream is to own a home, shouldn't we take up this guy's example and find more unique ways to express ourselves with them besides freshly cut lawns? 

The Trifecta!

Beer, Lei, Bocci. This from my roomate/friend Cheryl's Bday party. 

Tango!

These two again, embodying summer, tango dancing in a gazebo. 

Summer in the Mountains: Carbondale, CO

Spent a few days doing some landscape work up in Carbondale, CO. Even car camping in the parking lot across from the library made me nostalgic for summer in the mountains. So psyched I got to hang out with Justin and Cassandra the 2 lovely folks lying on the lawn above. Justin pretty much embodies perpetual summer--in his attitude certainly, but also because he's spent the past couple of "winters" down in the southern hemisphere, while spending his summers up here. 

Field Trip: Rocky Mountain Ghost Town

Went to this amazing ex-mining town up in the mountains with J and Ben. Country diner, driving down random dirt roads with no agenda, and wandering around ramshackle buildings strumming on the guitar--a great day!

To VisCom or not to VisCom

I planned to visit Ohio University for about 3 or 4 days to see if I liked it. I ended up staying there for 7, because I figured out that I like it a lot, thanks mainly to the fine specimens of humanity that I met there, some of whom are shown above. Hanging out with these folks reminded me of my college friends so much, that it felt oddly nostalgic. We took a field trip to rural Ohio, ate at the local diner and built not just a sand castle, but a sand civilization. We even had windy theoretical conversations for hours on end, albeit about photography instead of philosophy.

That said, I decided to defer, not b/c I couldn’t imagine myself there, but because I feel compelled to continue work on this native American youth project. I'm now on the Cheyanne River and Pine Ridge reservations in South Dakota to shoot an assignment for the Lakota Language Consortium. After that, up to Montana for the summer and fall. I don't think I'll be posting from my ongoing project, but I’ll make sure to keep the imagery flowing in some capacity. Thanks to anyone who is still paying attention to this slow lurch of a blog :)

New to the Fam

Over the past month I’ve shared too many cool experiences with great people not to be posting photos. And since I’m in adventure mode again with a working camera, I figure it’d be a good time to start updating this blog again. So, I’m going to do some backtracking to catch up, starting with this picture of one of three new genetically similar members of my extended family (yes, that means triplets).