Being unmotivated is the the biggest obstacle I’ve had to face creatively. Often times I’ll struggle to just get out on a good day and shoot, as if I’ve lost the the will to. I think it’s that I always want someone to be there, to have some kind of connection. I always look for places to make photos, and I run across a lot of them and keep onto them forever until someone is willing to go with me. Maybe its because it means more and I feel like I’m doing something not just for myself. Plus, most of the places I find are usually old, broken and forgotten. I always try to find correlation between them and myself.
A couple of weeks ago, Sedona, who always makes time to shoot with me when no one else will, came down from Chattanooga to explore this place. A quiet, abandoned housing project nestled in South Gadsden just off 278. I’ve passed by this place thousands of times without even knowing its existence. It had a look of something out of a larger, rundown city. It was a cul de sac with mostly the same housing layouts, except a few. There were remnants of recently used mattresses, a dwelling for the homeless to find shelter. We tread lightly, trying not to make our presence known from any watchful, concerned eyes passing by on the main road behind us. We eventually found one that was more intact than the others and had some interesting rooms.
There’s almost a ritual when I start clicking away with my digital camera, almost a warm up of sorts. I click a few that are always unusable and I completely tune out until I come up with some kind of idea for the place if nothing is set in stone. The idea of how something should look in my head rarely comes out right, I always get pretty close with Sedona though, despite my horrible lack of direction. We’re not uncomfortable, it’s that I’m always skeptical if I do give any direction. It’s something I’m trying to work on. How do you break this kind of wall? What’s your method of taking initiative? Anyways, here’s some photos. I’m gonna start doing this as consistent as possible, I have a bunch of work that I’ve been wanting to get out and have a home for.
Thanks for stopping by, and shoutout to Sedona, she’s an actual gem and sweetheart. Follow her at https://www.instagram.com/kid_ruby/?hl=en