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I know I said this whole section was dedicated to street photography and this is clearly not that but bear with me for a bit.

Some of my favorite street and documentary photographers, such as Robert Frank and Walker Evans, have dabbled in landscape photography. When it comes to myself, I feel like I’m the opposite of that, a landscape photographer also dabbling in street photography. When it comes to street photography, the most important aspect is timing. You’re creating an image at a poignant moment. So I feel like including a landscape photo, taken from a moving car, into this series isn’t much of a reach. There’s still that sense of energy, that blink and you’ll miss it moment. Landscape photography has a very similar aesthetic. The light is always changing, things are always growing or disappearing. You can shoot the same place every day and each shot will be different.

There’s another reason I decided to share a landscape photo this time around rather than a street photo. Awhile ago Veronica suggested that I should write about my strengths rather than my weaknesses. But every strength has its weaknesses. So, I am writing about my strengths, it’s not like I’m sharing awful photos and talking about how terrible they are. I’m sharing some of my favorite photos and pointing out my own personal, psychological weaknesses. Meanwhile, being able to recognize those weaknesses and also address them is a strength in itself. I think it’s important to discuss those mental roadblocks, not only for myself but for others who may be reading this. If unchecked, those weaknesses can be what brings you down.

Besides, how uninteresting would it be to read someone writing about how good they are and listing the reasons why?

So let’s get into the swing of things here.

I’ve always wanted to take a cross country road trip, a big dream for someone who doesn’t drive and is incredibly anxious even being in a car. Photos of the American west have always had this kind of attraction to me. The images of run down cowboys, vast stretches of open land with a single empty road running through the middle of it, dusty towns, etc. You can definitely see that inspiration in a lot of my landscape work. The solitude, the negative space, the haziness, it’s all drawn from landscape photography of the American west. I think, aside from that particular inspiration, a lot of it is a reflection of my own feelings of isolation, and a sense of feeling lost. I think that’s also why I am so drawn to those particular kind of images, because I can relate to them. But I make these images of blurred or abstracted landscapes that give off a disorienting vibe because sometimes I feel disoriented in this world and I don’t know which way is up. There’s a lack of other people in my images because I feel isolated and like I’m going through life largely on my own (yes yes, I have a large very supporting group of family and friends but ya know… like mentally and whatnot. We’ve all been there. You know what I’m talking about)

While I was in Ireland, I spent most car rides with a camera in my hand, snapping as we drove. The passing landscapes were too fantastic to not. I think doing this is actually a huge benefit to honing my skills in street photography. Much like street photography, shooting from a moving car is a “blink and you miss it” act. You can see the image coming and you’ve got to wait for just the right moment to grab it. Hesitate a second too long you’ll lose it and more likely than not you won’t be able to go back and get it. Hesitation is a big issue with me so this was definitely a learning experience. It took most of the three months I was there to be able to perfect (or get at least closer to perfect) my timing. I missed a lot of shots from waiting just the tiniest bit too long, getting blurry shrubs or trees instead of a rolling hill. Shooting the landscape of Ireland from a passing car has the added difficulty that most roads are lined with hedgerows. Gaps between them are few and far between. So you need to hope for a gate or slight rise in the road if you see a shot coming your way.

Some of my favorite shots from Ireland, and more specifically my favorite shots from a moving car in Ireland, came while Veronica and I were road tripping across the country to Achill Island. The landscape changed so drastically from Enniscorthy to Achill. Very similar to the drastic change from the Cliffs of Moher to the Burren. to say that it went from rolling green hills to barren nothingness. The landscape was very similar to that of the American West. Just a long stretch of road cutting through a bleak landscape of rounded mountains and brown earth. I’m sure it’s a little more… lively… in the height of spring or summer but at that moment it was quite 50 shades of tan. Not to say it wasn’t beautiful, it was absolutely stunning. The road wound through the landscape and around mountains giving you a new view every couple of seconds. I couldn’t put my camera down. Quite honestly, I fully believe that the photos from that span of a few hours are among some of my best.

For now on, whenever I’m attempting some street photography, I need to get in the mindset I was in during the drive from Galway to Achill Island with Madonna’s entire discography on shuffle.