America
Another one is in the books. Can’t remember what I’ve said about these trips in the past, but they are my favorite. Hands down. Anytime there is a camera in my hand, I’m having fun, but nothing beats a cross-country road trip. Just Mojo and I and nobody else to tell me what to do or how to shoot. No agenda or itinerary, just a general goal of where I’ll end up on the other side. There might be a couple things i’m looking for, but it’s also very important to not be too focused on those things. Otherwise you’ll miss out on everything else. Learned a good lesson on this trip pertaining to the weather, which it felt like I was fighting with a majority of the time. Weather can be great for photographs, but this time around most days had skies filled with a very drab blanket of grey. No definition to the clouds. Just a blanket. Boring. Definitely not what I typically look for when shooting on the road. After about six thousand of miles of being frustrated with those skies, I finally said screw it, accepted it, and tried to just use it. The images that I made on that day ended up being some of my favorites. Lesson learned. The road has a funny way of teaching you great lessons. Yet another reason why I love it.
Sign makers kept popping into my head during this trip. I’ve always been fascinated by old signs, but this time around it really struck me what a profound impact sign makers can have on a business, store front, street, neighborhood or city. In general, it seems like signs aren’t nearly as creative as they used to be. And that’s sad. Still though, there are some very creative guys out there. And I appreciate the way a sign can make you feel. Just looking at a sign can tell you so much about whatever kind of business is happening inside. A sign can set a mood or it can tell you about the culture of the place it occupies. And over time, that sign can create a culture which further helps draw like minded people to an area. A sign can define a street. It can become iconic and synonymous with a certain city. That’s powerful.
Side note: A lot of new content was made on this trip for my barbershop project and I’ll be sharing that soon.