May 4, 2008

Yesterday we arrived in Athens, Ohio much later than our anticipated time of 3:30PM and instead around 6:30PM. Earlier in the day we drove through an absolute downpour for longer than we would have liked and it made for a difficult, tiresome drive where much time was not able to be made up.

The rain ceased towards the latter part of the afternoon. The clouds began to clear, giving way to rays of sunshine and feelings of warmth and elation. We snaked up, down, and around the mountainside towns outside of Athens where Matt has been photographing most recently.

Upon arriving in Athens we walked a short ways from the apartment that Matt, his wife Melissa, and their baby Madeline live-in and over to their college friends’ home and we realized that Athens was teeming with life. I particularly remember seeing a college-aged girl with dreadlocks that reached down to her bottom happily riding her bike in and out of rays of sunshine that streamed down through newly-blossomed trees that seemed to carefully rest like extended arms above our heads.

Without planning, Ethan and I had ironically arrived on Mom’s weekend. Daughter’s and son’s shared copious amounts of hot dogs, hamburgers, cookies, cakes, and alcohol, of course, with their mother’s. A great time seemed to be had by all with much laughter, indie music, a soccer ball, and a game of indoor twister. Some sort of high-five slap-tastic hand movement was also happening on the back deck. I would elaborate more but I am still slightly confused by what exactly it was.

Ethan and I met their welcoming friends, ate hamburgers and hot dogs, drank a couple of Corona’s, and then made our way back to Matt’s apartment to speak and learn about his photographs and he as a photographer.

During our conversation, Ethan and I remarked on how beautiful and idillic it was driving through the rural towns outside of Athens. Matt agree that this is the view experienced by many visitors to Athens but that so much more lay beneath the surface. The interview with Matt was everything we could have asked for and more (side note: content from all of our interviews will make it’s way to the website in either June or July).

I relate it much to how life in Maine is. Tourists view the coastal towns as beautiful, serene, and peaceful, and in the most honest there is no question that they are. But after spending close to two years in these coastal towns I have learned that there is much more beneath it all. It is perhaps much like an iceberg; a small portion is easily viewed rising through the water but a larger, deeper portion rests below.

Right now we are driving through Arlington, Ohio and Ethan says there are a lot of kids out and about. I agree. It’s a warm, pleasant day. We are listening to three mix cds courtesy of the talented Matt Eich. Brian Eno does what he does while we drive to Ann Arbor to see Colin Blakely.

…photography students from Ohio University, perhaps?

Ethan driving towards a sunset.

Sunroof, sunset.

EDIT: the content below is being added on May 9, 2008.  I am in the works of catching up on everything..

May 4, 2008

This afternoon we visited Colin Blakely at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan,  We had the pleasure of meeting not only Colin but also his welcoming wife, young children (one named Ethan, ironically), and their German Shepard-esque dog, Mesa.  We walked a short ways down to the park where Colin has been making his photographs and enjoyed learning about he and his photographs.

Now we are departing Ann Arbor, Michigan, and heading towards Warren Dunes State Park, which is on the eastern, lower part of Lake Michigan where we will sleep for one night.

Colin Blakely in the park he has been photographing.

May 3, 2008

It’s morning time again, shortly after 10:30AM. We have departed Rochester and are cruising along I-90 heading West to see our first photographer, Matt Eich.

Last night we had the pleasure of catching up with old friends and our superb team: Suzy, our editorial director; Eric at Booksmart Studio, our publisher; Josh Gomby, our graphic designer. Videos will be coming soon from the opening of “Seventeen”, an exhibit of the artwork from the fourth year fine-art photography students at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Back to the present…

Cat Power’s sweet, weathered voice is playing through the speakers of Ethan’s yellow-jacket colored Mazda Protege. Right now the odometer reads 71,979 miles. By the end our trip it will have surpassed 82,000; an addition of over 10,000 miles in one month’s time.

The grass between the thruway is a heavily saturated green dotted with yellow buttercups and daffodils rising from the earth. Our breakfast has been a healthy one to fuel us for the road: three homemade chocolate chip cookies (thanks, Mom!) and water from our Nalgenes.

May 2, 2008

I am writing this while riding in the back seat of my parents Black Toyota 4Runner. It is morning time shortly after 9AM. My father is singing, “One day at a time.. one day at a time..” and my mother is talking about dribbling a basketball with the students she nurses for in the Syracuse City School District.

The weather is overcast; probably in the high-40s and the air is quite heavy with spring. My parents are enroute to dropping me off at Hannah’s apartment where Ethan is most likely up and rumaging about.

Rochester, here we come.

May 1, 2008

“If you’re going to ride my ass at least pull my hair”

That was a bumper sticker seen on the rear of a vintage Jeep while driving through Massachusetts.  The 8 hour drive from Maine to Syracuse was smooth, quick, and easy.  I met my parents on the New York State Thruway, specifically Exit 36, to have dinner and a night with them at the home I grew up in and they continue to live in.  It’s a quaint suburban home; creamy white siding, sections of white picik fence, rich green grass from spring’s rain.  Ethan continued on to Rochester to see his friends and his lady, Hannah.