Project 35: A Year of Photos

I've been thinking about new goals as the new year approaches, but I'm also trying to really appreciate the things I accomplished this year. I turned 35 in January, and for some reason this birthday really hit me. While I don't feel particularly old, I feel like I am undoubtedly of "mom age." So, to celebrate, cope, etc., I devised a photo project for myself to commemorate the year.

Called Project 35, the idea was to end the year with four sets of 35 photos taken within 3.5 miles from my house, within 35, within 350, and within 3500 miles. I framed this project rather loosely, with the idea that I wanted to notice and appreciate what was right around me. It definitely got me out exploring a lot of small towns around here and gave me that extra bit of purpose I needed when I set out with my camera. (This is the bane of my existence, needing a purpose behind everything.)

Halfway through the project, I took a fantastic photo class called the Jackson Hole Photography Workshop, taught by Michael Sherwin from WVU and John Holmgren from Franklin and Marshall. It had been years since I'd been to Jackson Hole, and I hadn't been back out west since leaving Montana in 2007. While there this time around, I had the distinct feeling of being in the right place at the right time, something I must admit I haven't felt a lot lately. I was so excited to be learning from photographers who are also fine artists, alongside other people who were as psyched as me to be sent outside with their cameras in amazingly beautiful settings.  

This was a college class, and since I was one of four non-traditional students, I often got dibs on sitting in the front of the van with Michael or riding with John in his pickup truck. I talked to John a lot about his work and how he created projects for himself (be sure check out his stuff--he does some really interesting mixed media pieces of the man camps in North Dakota, as well as some great work in the arctic). I told him about Project 35, and his comment was this: Just finish it. Whatever you do, just complete the project. So I did. 

You can check out all four sets on my Flickr site. I've organized them chronologically within each album so the progress will be apparent. If there's one thing the photo workshop did for me, it was to give me a more critical eye. Suddenly I began to see technical problems I'd completely missed before, and it was surprisingly difficult to find 20 good images for the final portfolio, despite having taken hundreds, if not thousands, during that week. That said, I don't hold these groups of 35 photos out as being fantastic, because I can see lots of flaws, but more as an example of one way to move forward while trying to develop a skill.

Since taking up photography more seriously about two years ago, I've wondered exactly what my style is and how to make my work hang together. This project has been really helpful because some themes and commonalities have emerged.  

Do you see any trends? Anything worth pursuing further? As you'd expect, the new year needs a new project.

The Grit

With the recent gas boom and the corresponding decline in coal production in West Virginia, there's been a resurgence of talk about the effect extractive industries have had and continue to have on the State. About how companies that are based in other states come here to do business but then take their profits elsewhere. This trend is difficult for obvious reasons--people here benefit only so long as a particular company is willing to pay them to work, and the profits that the companies earn are largely not reinvested in the West Virginia economy (aside from the occasional goodwill grant to schools or support for local events).

Most disturbing to me though is the emotional toll this type of exchange takes on people. Some develop a seemingly unwarranted sense of loyalty to the companies--or at least the industry--they work for, despite what seems to be a clear preference for profit over people. Perhaps when you can't see any other options, you have to fight for what you know. But to my mind, this leaves the state in general in a sort of weak, underdog position, loyal to the hand that feeds it.

The Coalfield Development Corporation seems to be tackling this issue head on, and I'm hopeful that their approach will give some former coal workers their power back. They employ people living in southern West Virginia as construction workers for 33 hours a week, building local housing and disassembling existing structures to salvage materials and market them to high-end markets in cities around the U.S. Employees must attend 6 hours a week of local community college classes and participate in 3 hours of life skills training. This group is set to receive $600,000 from the U.S. EDA to support their work, and it's so encouraging to see that this type of effort not only exists, but is actually doing quite well.

Here in northern West Virginia there are far fewer coal mines, but the mark of industry is still pronounced. From my house in Morgantown I could see a large gas rig located across the river until recently (they must have completed the well), and surrounding that well are various other plants. While personally I wish this city could wrap its mind around and implement some zoning laws with actual teeth, there is something appealing to me about these industrial structures--old and new--the lights, the colors, and the sheer boldness. Apparently it's not just me: photographers Alexander Gronsky, Edward Burtynsky, and Eric Tomberlin have made strikingly beautiful work out of relatively mundane, common structures.