Ethan and I are in the process of moving into new homes and starting back to our jobs, but stay tuned for Pause, to Begin updates and more regular blog posts during the coming weeks.

Sigur Ros’ new song, “Gobbledigook”, off of their forthcoming album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (English: With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly), sums up my excitement quite well regarding the coming weeks and months ahead. A long time listener and believer in the music Sigur Ros makes, it is fascinating to see them debut a song that is so different, yet so welcoming, from their previous creations.

May 30, 2008

We head into Manhattan. It is a beautiful day. We check out the Philippe Gronon show at Yossi Milo with our friend, Tom Starkweather. The show is excellent. The installation of the Philippe’s work is brilliant and the prints themselves are reproduced beautifully; Yossi Milo does it again. The picture below does not do the show justice.

In the afternoon we catch up with Tom Prior at his Brooklyn apartment. It is sweltering. Fortunately, Tom has an A.C. unit right in his room.

We speak with Tom about his work and he presents us with a great, sound interview. Everything is super mellow and we enjoy every minute of it. After, we head out for coffee with Tom at the local cafe and call it an afternoon.

Thanks for catching up with us, Tom. It was a pleasure to meet you.

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Unfortunately, we were not able to meet up with Brea Souders in Manhattan due to her illness but we look forward to catching up with her soon.

Our last night on the road. We see old friends, think about everything we have seen and heard during the past month, and soak in the city before heading North and back to Maine.

May 29, 2008

We hit the road and make our way back to D.C. Ethan has a chance to catch up with his folks for a brief bit and I catch up with my older brother, Ray. Perfect.

Ethan’s parents photographed in Maine, 2007, Ethan Aaro Jones

Ray, Grand Lake Stream, Maine, 2007, David Wright

We make our way to the city thereafter and get stuck in endless amounts of traffic. Welcome to New York.

Upon arriving in New York we hit the Surf Bar for a selection of seafood and then the Levee Bar for refreshments. Exhaustion sets in and we pass out a short while later.

May 28, 2008

We wake up at 7AM and interview Shannon about her series of photographs based on her family. She presents us with strong insight toward her photographic process and family, and we appreciate her willingness to be open about such a personal subject. Thank you, Shannon.

We arrive at Erika Larsen’s parents home in Chester, Maryland around 6:30PM and follow Erika to a shoot she’s doing a short ways down the road. The light, road, and grasses are beautiful.

We head to a local diner after, get a bite to eat, and then make our way back to Erika’s parents home.

Like all of the photographers we have met so far, Erika is a true joy to speak with and anything I write here simply cannot explain the unbelievable interview we have with her. Thank you so much, Erika.

May 27, 2008

Our plan was to leave Savannah in the early morning hours but due to the new tires needing to be put on, we are not able to leave until after 1:30PM or so.

We arrive in Cary around 8PM and Shannon Johnstone, our next photographer, is having a birthday party for her significant other, Anthony. Veggies, fruits, and beers are shared and a good, relaxing time is had by all. We also have the pleasure of meeting Lia Newman, Director of Programs and Exhibitions at the Artspace Visual Art Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.

May 24, 2008

We spend one more day in New Orleans and take a swamp tour of the New Orleans Bayou. I find the calling I have been searching for: professional alligator photographer.

And then we hit the Bayou Boogaloo for round two.

And then we attend an African American art opening. The paintings are phenomenal and a DJ spins hip hop in the back room. Dig.

May 23, 2008

The day’s activities include: various neighborhoods, pralines, beignets, sausage and alligator cheese cake, the Bayou Boogaloo, the Mississippi Rover, trolley trains, Jackson Park, and an amazing jazz benefit show.

Mississippi River

Fountain

beignet before

beignet after

Ethan and Andrea, trolley

May 22, 2008

Campsite without the tent; dock in the background.

Ethan with the car with the tent inside; dock not in background.

Sloppy photography while driving.

New Orleans welcomes us with Andrea, Ethan’s friend, an instrumental band at the Maple Leaf Bar, and good times all around.

May 21, 2008

We say goodbye to the Econolodge in San Antonio and make our way to Louisiana. I realize that bathroom poet’s live in Louisiana.

Ethan does the day’s driving and I read Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Letters to a Young Poet”. It is quite good and I recommend it to really anyone out there.

“And to be among conditions that work us, that set us before big natural things from time to time, is all we need.”

“I feel as though I had been sleeping for years or had been lying in the lowest hold of a ship that, loaded with heavy things, sailed through strange distances– — Oh to climb up on deck once more and feel the winds and the birds, and to see how the great, great nights come with their gleaming stars…”

We drive for a short while and our Garmin GPS takes us down a road with a bridge that is no longer accessible. The homes, light, grasses, and sky that are presented before us are quite beautiful.

We arrive at our campground in St. Martinsville and the humidity in unbelievable; it feels like the rain forests of Costa Rica. Without moving, one’s cotton shirt becomes soaked in sweat.

We make a pasta dinner, take cold showers, and sleep atop our Thermarest sleeping pads wearing only our boxers.

May 20, 2008

Good morning.

We head to Alejandro’s parents restaurant and meet his father who reminds me much of my father: warm, kind, funny, talkative; a true people person.

We have a traditional Mexican breakfast: scrambled eggs mixed with meat, onion, and pepper, wrapped in flour torillas with special, homemade salsa. Unbelievably delicious. We drink homemade fruit smoothies and I cannot begin to describe how good they are. A big thank you to Mr. Cartegana and his great staff!

We drive around the locations where Alejandro has been making his Lost Rivers and Topografia work, and then have a more formal but laid back interview at Fototeca, where Alejandro works. Both make for a winning combination and we look forward to presenting this content in multimedia form later this summer.

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In the afternoon we see more of Monterrey and it’s landscape.

We eat at a favorite restaurant of Alejandro’s and Chrissie’s, El Torito (The Little Bull). We order Tecate beers and a plate of meat, onion, pepper, salsa, and flour tortillas. Again, the food is remarkable and we eat until we simply can eat no more!

In the evening, we drive to El Mirador, a large hilltop in Monterrey where young people come to make out while American music plays through green speakers. It is quite a spektacle. We make portraits of Alejandro and see another epic sunset. Alejandro says we are good luck because today is one of the best cloud days of the year.

We pick up Chrissie and head for helado (ice cream). The amounts are plentiful and we cannot finish it all!

Our bus was scheduled to leave at 10:30PM and arrive in San Antonio at 4:30AM, but in reality does not leave until 11:15PM and does not arrive until 6:30AM. Make sure to allow an hour or two leeway if you ever head South of the border on a bus.

Ethan and I check into an Econolodge at 6:45AM and sleep for 3 hours until checkout at 11AM.

Alejandro, Crissie, and the Cartegenas: thank you for everything!