On Longing

“The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale.”

I believe the best way in which the world can be observed is in person. To see something a vast and impressive as the ocean or a sunset is something that is best done with your own eyes. This photo was captured during a sunset walk on the St. Augustine Fishing Pier. I remember watching the massive sea churn and waves build on each other in an unending pattern. Existing in a human sized form makes this experience even more powerful.

“Capacity of objects to serve as traces of authentic experience.”

Simple objects can hold so much meaning and memories even though they might appear to be basic at first glance. This picture of a system of ropes recalls for me an entire day of sailing around islands in the Gulf of Maine. I can still see the hundreds of feet of rope being rigged and pulled to raise and lower massive sails.

“The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the 3-D into miniature which can be enveloped by the body.”

It is an incredible difficult task to encapsulate something like a seaside vista in a photograph. This photograph is a cheap postcard compared to the sight of this cliff made of pink granite shattered between the sea and a dark forest.

“Nostalgia cannot be sustained without loss.”

Looking back on memories can be both a happy or painful experience. This photo reminds me of wonderful trips taken to a city filled with live. Exploring New Orleans' French Quarter, the Garden District and City Park. Watching hundreds of Mardi Gras floats and performance groups stream by. Yet recalling these happy memories make my heart hurt like nothing else. They have been forever tarnished by the betrayal of the person I experienced them with.

“To have a souvenir of the exotic is to possess both a specimen and a trophy.”

Nature is a source of limitless beauty and wonder. Even this picture of a hibiscus flower is just an attempt at stealing its beauty to display and marvel at.