Friday, January 30, 2015

Silver & Gold Redux

While i would hate to ever have my movements restricted to any single location on one of my visits to Nova Scotia, i have to say that it would take a very long time before i would every tire of shooting the backyard beauty of Indian Path. Situated on an inlet that snakes it's way in from the Atlantic, the property is a visual delight through all seasons. Here are some more offerings from the frosty silver and gold mornings i experienced behind my in-laws' wonderful home over our Christmas holiday. While winter didn't seem to want to show her snowy splendors to us on this trip i was treated to a few days of icy cold that lit up the landscape with a frosty glistening glory every dawn. For me it was all too easy to get lost in just a few square feet of this landscape.

(please be sure to click images for an expanded viewing)

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass; Seaweed
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Rose Hip
©David Sorcher 2015

©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost;
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass; Seaweed
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass; Seaweed
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass; Seaweed
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass; Marsh
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Indian Path; Ice; Ice Crystals; Frost; Grass; Inlet
©David Sorcher 2015




Monday, January 26, 2015

Do Re Mi Mori

Do, a deer, a female deer.
Re, a drop of golden sun.
Mi, a name i call myself.
Fa, a long, long way to run...

Forgive me for finding new meaning in this classic Sound of Music favorite, but it somehow seemed apropos. There was, after all, the deer, the golden rays of the late afternoon sun...and me, of course. How far we all have to run is anybody's guess.
After spending a day exploring my wife's heritage in old seaside towns and graveyards, friends alerted us to some deer remains near their home on Heckman's Island and we (or at least i) jumped at the chance to track down a somewhat different kind of ancestral boneyard. Our rituals of human burial have been highly formalized and codified over the centuries. Our monuments stand prim and proper beyond cemetery walls in honored memory to our departed loved ones, at least until that inevitable day when wind, salt and sea erase those names and words of kind remembrance beyond recognition, leaving only cold, forgetful stones to shout anonymity at the ubiquitous skies. 
Nature has her own way of dealing with the dead, but somehow patterns are still formed, fleeting and fading, yet never the less strong in their monolithic and iconic presence. The time for these random and transitory shrines to nature's lost children is short. It could be mere months before all evidence of this deer are gone, dragged away or sunk beneath the ground to fossilize in the cold, wet earth well away from sight of man or beast. My hope in these captures is that they might serve as Memento Mori for the living for perhaps another day. 

(please click on images for expanded viewing)

Nova Scotia; Bones; Deer; Skeleton; Skull
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Bones; Deer; Skeleton; Skull
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Bones; Deer; Skeleton; Skull
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Bones; Deer; Skeleton; Skull
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Bones; Deer; Skeleton; Skull
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Bones; Deer; Skeleton; Skull
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Bones; Deer; Skeleton; Skull
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Bones; Deer; Skeleton; Skull
©David Sorcher 2015

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Across the River

On my recent visit to Nova Scotia i spent some time tracing the steps of some of my wife's lineage back to Port Medway and the descendants of one Samuel Mack (1736-1783). This adventure found me graveyard hopping with my wife and her parents searching out the stones that mark the remains of those who helped make the very reason for me being in this place possible. If you know me at all you know that i am no stranger to cemeteries. The rituals of how we care for and honor our dead have always held a certain dark fascination for me. Tie that to an ancestral search party and i'm there with bells on.
Of course, as with every journey to the land of the dead, rivers must be crossed and the ferryman must be paid.

(please click on images for expanded viewing)

LaHave Ferry ©David Sorcher 2015

No, i wasn't just speaking metaphorically. We started our trip with a ride across the LaHave river. I love this ferry ride, though it is a fairly short one. This is a cable pulled ferry. There have been numerous vessels in this spot over the years to take travelers, their goods and vehicles back and forth across the river. I have personally known two. 

©David Sorcher 2015

Medway River ©David Sorcher 2015

We crossed one other river on our way to Port Medway. The Medway River was riding rather high that day, almost daring us to pass over. 

©David Sorcher 2015

In the first cemetery we visited i discovered the headstone of one of the Mack clan, Azubah (died in 1841), lying on it's side. I found the name unusual so i looked it up. Biblically she was the wife of King Asa and the mother of King Jehoshaphat. Most strange is that the actually meaning of the name is desolation. Such an odd thing to name a child i thought.

©David Sorcher 2015

This Samuel Mack was a namesake of the original area founder that we sought. The headstone of his wife Sophia can be seen in the background. 

©David Sorcher 2015

This strange little chrysalis was attached to the back of one of the gravestones, sort of a womb within a tomb, so to speak. I wonder what life, if any, might emerge from it come spring. 

©David Sorcher 2015

©David Sorcher 2015

The Port Medway Shop, and behind it the town's historical cemetery. 

©David Sorcher 2015

"Here lies Buried the Body of M. Samuel Mack." I have always loved these winged skull headstone caps from the 18th Century. Dated 1783, this is the oldest marker in this cemetery, filled with quietly resting souls perched upon the sea. 

©David Sorcher 2015

©David Sorcher 2015

©David Sorcher 2015

©David Sorcher 2015

©David Sorcher 2015

Night Ferry ©David Sorcher 2015

The ferry awaits to take us home across the water, back to Indian Path once more. 









Thursday, January 15, 2015

Resolutions

Getting the Year in Focus

I suppose with a title like that you might be expecting a discussion of mega-pixel count or lens sharpness. This is, after all, a page dedicated to the photographic arts. But as the bright colors of Christmas slowly fade into the gray and overcast skies of January i am actually referring to that most dreaded of all annual proclamations, the New Year's Resolution.
Now, i don't usually make these, but i kind of feel like this year i really need to make some promises to myself to get my ass in gear. Sure, i survived the previous year, making all my earning solely from my freelance work for the very first time ever. No teaching gig to pad out those irregular freelance invoices. But when i look back on my year i see a whole lot of poorly spent time and half finished projects. I know i can do this better and get a whole lot more done. I know i should. So here's a list for me to hopefully get behind. I guess we really won't know how well i've done with it until the end of 2015. 

1. Do something that relates to my photography EVERY day. This doesn't have to mean making a new photo (though that is a nice thought). It could also include, but not be limited to, editing and toning or just getting my invoicing or some other business aspect of the job down. I haven't been too bad at this over the past year, but i know i can do better. 

2. Create the studio space in my basement that i have been wanting to set up for the past year. I have had many idea for still life imagery that i have not pursued so far due to the lack of facility. Once facility is in place it is much harder to put such projects off. 

3. Purchase a medium to high-end film/slide scanner and get started on my archives. It's not so much that i feel i need to do this to preserve my old analog work. I am, in fact, more and more fearful these days for the safety and preservation of my digital files. But i have many bodies of work that i am very proud of that i have not been able to show through the digital venues of the internet. Call it my "lost work". I know there is an audience waiting for some of this stuff, but i need to get it out in plain sight. The expense of paying someone to do this just seems beyond my means (and there really is sooooo much of it) so i think it will simply have to be a long and tedious task that i tackle on my own. But the first step is the proper equipment. 

4. Purchase a high-end home printer capable of making exhibition quality prints. This is kind of the opposite problem to my analog work. My digital work has remained in a sort of virtual reality for far too long. I have only printed up a handful of images for the occasional showing. I want to see my photographs up on walls, even if they are only the walls in my own living room.

5. Once set up for producing prints i would like to actively start seeking gallery space for a showing. I have numerous bodies of work from which to mount a show.  I am not locked into producing any one of them more than another so much will depend upon the work any given gallery is willing to show. While i can't make actually getting a show one of my resolutions (since it is possible that no one is really interested in showing what i do) i must actively work to find that possible venue anyway.  

6. STOP WASTING TIME! Really, i waste so much time. Whether it is spent chatting away on Facesmack or watching bad TV, i really need to make better use of my time in the new year. One of the big problems i have found living the freelance lifestyle is that my days and nights don't have a regular, formatted schedule and it is far too easy for me to slip into laziness and procrastination. This needs to stop, especially if i want to successfully accomplish the rest of the resolutions on this list. 

I suppose i could go on, but there is really no point if i can't get these simple goals in sight. Once sighted i must aim and strike. As i relaxed in my in-laws' beautiful rural home over Christmas vacation, mulling over this idea of resolutions, i was surprised to find myself pestered by the buzz of a persistent little fly. The middle of the winter in Nova Scotia, and somehow there was this whiny fly in the house. Well, this little guy annoyed me for three solid nights until one morning when it landed on the window to greet the dawn and i flicked him good with my middle finger. I think resolutions can be a little like that. They pester you for a while until you finally catch up with them, take aim and nail the sucker. Sometimes it can get a little messy, but you sleep better afterwards...

©David Sorcher 2015

Edit: Oh yes, i forgot one very important resolution about something i found myself falling down on quite a bit last year. I must find a better consistency for my blog posts this year so i resolve to post a new one at least once a week!




Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Silver & Gold

When i first arrived at Indian Path for Christmas it was hardly the northern winter wonderland i was treated to two years earlier. No beautifully layered fields of snow and ice. In fact it was 47ºF and raining on Christmas day. But it only took a few days for colder temperatures to settle in and one crisp morning i was offered the glistening imagery of grasses and seaweed as ice crystals clung to everything at the rising of the sun. I'm reminded of that old song, sung in a round.
Make new friends,
But keep the old,
One is silver and the other gold.

(please click on images for an expanded view)

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015

Nova Scotia; Cananda: Indian Path; Ice, Crystals; Grasses
©David Sorcher 2015