I have been following the Erie Canal towpath and making pictures since late winter this year. This is my current edit of Erie Canal pictures. It is comforting to see that there things that could be improved. While I would like to have a completed project on hand, I enjoy knowing what I need to do to make a project stronger. I think the sequence holds together but the style and feel of the pictures could be more cohesive.

I’ve always thought that viewing nature as something pure and separated from everyday life was in a way rejecting culture, or at least a way of temporarily denying one’s conditions. This is something I do when I photograph along the canal trail, making pictures that do not engage with culture, at least not in an overt way (there are of course connections between nature, nature photography, and the history of the canal and culture). I believe that when I  walk and make pictures I’m using the trail as it is currently intended for, leisure activities.

I wonder how much the genre of photography I’m interested in (something after or related to documentary photography) could be read as a leisure activity or craft. If this is the case then are we only required to entertain? Is there anything wrong with that? I suppose the important question is does the work engage with larger issues, can it fit into or further or create a larger conversation. I’m glad Anna brought this up in response to Matt’s last post, its something I don’t often consider, its far to easy to become overly engaged with making work and not consider alternate perspectives. I don’t think there are or should be a set of standards that must be met for a work to be successful, but especially as photographers we should consider the variety of contexts our work could be interpreted through. I’ve been thinking more about the context of this work since I learned that there are plans for development along the canal.