Seeking Simplicity

May 1, 2012

Don’t get me wrong. I love me some heli skiing. Instant and exciting access to mountaintops, mind blowing descents, camaraderie. I recently spent four days immersed in this lifestyle in the mecca of the sport; Valdez, Alaska. It was everything you could hope it to be. Eventually I ran out of money (it’s easy to do at $1k/day), and I took to the mountains with some new friends on foot. And here’s the shocker: I liked it better. I’ve been pondering this fact. Concurrently I’ve been thinking a lot about my photography, what I am trying to say, what images I’m gravitating toward. The through-line in everything I’m fascinated by right now is ‘simplicity’.

Less. Less noise. Less distraction. Things distilled down to their basic elements. I’m trying to figure out how to accomplish my goals, whether athletic or artistic, with as little gear, drama and BS as possible.

Perhaps we’re all going through this process of righting the ship. I like to think it’s our responsibility as inhabitants of this earth to do so. We’ve got some overindulgence to make up for. The good news, for me anyway, is that it doesn’t have to be a painful process. It means shooting images with what light mother nature deemed fit to provide, walking away from the computer before spending hours abusing an image in Photoshop. It means slowing down and finding truly intimate experiences in the natural world.

A quiet, subtle, immersive path toward genuine beauty; that’s the route I’m after. Join me for a nice long walk?

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