Well, despite the bravado with which I ended last week’s post, I must report that November (the project) is over. The snows that came early this year threw a wrench into my plans.
With November, I knew exactly what I wanted to evince, and I needed grey and brown forlorn dreary landscapes to do it. Not to mention I had just thirty days and 30 sheets of 4×5 film to get it done.
But after spending some time this week out in the snow, photographing, and after scanning and considering the results, it became obvious that it just wasn’t going to work. The snow wrecked it.
When you go out to look for evidence that will support your foregone conclusion it’s entirely possible you won’t find it. Either that or you’ll see that there’s more to the story that you originally thought or wanted. If I had gone into November with a different mindset it would be a different story, I could have used the snow to add a layer to the thing.
But I was looking for something specific and Nature conspired against me. Believe me when I tell you, though, that I don’t subscribe to (most) conspiracy theories. Plus, I’m not taking it personally.
I’ll leave you here with a few snowy landscapes, and the words of the Québécois poet and singer Gilles Vigneault:
Mon pays, ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l’hiver
Mon jardin, ce n’est pas un jardin, c’est la plaine
Mon chemin, ce n’est pas un chemin, c’est la neige
Mon pays, ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l’hiver*
*
My country is not a country, it’s winter
My garden is not a garden, it’s the plain
My path is not a path, it’s the snow
My country is not a country, it’s winter