“We are not of what we feel or believe to do, we are of what we do or fail to do.”
―
https://meanderingpassage.com//wp-content/uploads/images/2023/02/EBM-20160229122307.jpg
I made many photos during our 2015-2017 full-time RV travels that I’ve never really ‘developed.’ I went into this experience expecting to post and photograph frequently of our travels. Still, as time passed, the posts became fewer, and the photographs more personal as living the experience became the top priority. But in the back of my mind, I felt I was somehow dropping the ball on my original intent. Then in the last year of our travels, it became clear our furry adopted child (Maggie) could no longer tolerate the stress of this lifestyle, so there was the difficult decision to stop the adventure, perhaps before a natural end.
I believe the combination had me figuratively putting these memories and photos in a shoebox up on the high shelf of a closet, but I’m starting to dig through them again. I’m crossing one of those ‘artificial barriers’ I’d unthinkingly put up.
I clearly remember Van Horn, TX, as a very small little dusty Interstate 10 pull-off of a town in far west Texas that happened to have a small RV Park, which was almost filled at the time due to a local pipeline construction project. While there was a tiny dog park, I don’t think there was a patch of grass, dead or otherwise, anywhere, which Maggie didn’t care for because she disliked doing her business in the raw dirt. I believe the photo was made during the afternoon of our one-day stopover while exploring the area in our truck.
I was mindful of several elements in the photo composition. I wanted to capture the mountains in the background but not have them dominate. I also wanted to show the vastness of the surroundings and the endless horizon while emphasizing the seeming irony of being contained or restricted by a small barbed-wire fence representing man’s colossal ego regarding nature.
Quite a peaceful, calming image Earl – the vastness you aimed to capture is certainly there. I do like the character of the fence with the different posts – almost as if whoever built it picked up whatever stick was closest for the next post. :)
The fence looks piecemeal, but from what I remember, there wasn’t any nearby forest to Van Horn, so that a regular wooden fence post would be expensive. Thanks, Mark.
It certainly transmits all the feelings you wanted it to.
Thanks for the comment, Howard. I hope you’re doing well.
The image does present the vastness of the landscape and how small a part we are of it. I think you captured it quite well and looking forward to more from those years of adventure. This image stirs up my feelings and desire of wandering that still have roots within me. It also brings up the imagery of the silence we can experience in such places. And, I just love the way you phrased your last sentence, “man’s colossal ego regarding nature.” LOL Thanks for sharing!!!
Thanks, Monte. I plan on posting additional photos from our RV’ing years, along with some related memories and stories. From my experience, those wandering feelings never seem to go away entirely.
I think in general we have a love/hate relationship with fences. They reflect the ego you mentioned but at the same time I find them very photogenic and can add to rather than detract from an image. It’s a lovely image and each of us can read much into it.
You’re probably right about the love/hate relationship with fences and how whichever side of that equation they may fall on depends upon the person viewing and the circumstance of their surroundings. Thanks, Joe!