Project Post #3

Good evening,

Rexer’s chapter on biography mainly focused on the life and work of Andre Kertész. One thing I found engrained in this chapter was how his photographs channeled his emotions, whether he intended for them to or not. Thinking of channeling emotions, I wanted to give myself a break from the rawness of the world and go more into my personal emotions. 

Everyone is in the same boat, from my friends now spread across the country, to multiple countries dealing with change. Despite all the facetimes, phone calls, letters, and texts, I have been feeling many emotions, namely loneliness. 

I wanted to play with conscious and unconscious biography, as I saw in Kertesz’ work. I attempted to center my photos for this week around loneliness, and later analyzed them to see what else they would reveal. 

To take these images, I went on a “scoot” and took out the old razor scooter around some park trails. Deer in my area are plentiful, as we have woods and open spaces under power lines. As the sun gradually set, I kept seeing more and more deer. I would always see one at first, and once that one had crossed the road or cleared the way, another, and a bit after, another. If cars got in the way, or traffic re-ensued, they would always wait for the straggler. The straggler was so cautious, and tentative, as they were the last to cross; but the others always waited. This showed me that even though you may be alone for a while, waiting for one car to pass or many, you will always catch up with your herd. 

I began to notice the sense of hope that appeared within my images-this I believe to be unconscious. A solitary flower symbolizes life, beginning anew, and a wealth of green around them suggests more to come. As I was leaving the empty soccer field, a dog sprinted across the grass, as his human played fetch with him. Hope resides in color, so I decided to give this week's round of photos some.

All of these instances reminded me that life will return. I am feeling like that straggler deer, waiting for the endless stream of cars to pass, and they will. And when they do, I will be reunited with those I miss and love. 

Glad you’re on the planet, 

Leena