Zen on Montana's Gallatin River.
Note: I wrote this in the Denver airport two days ago, running on a substantial lack of sleep. As I wrote, others flying into Austin – mostly the SXSW crowd – filled the seats around me. A girl who looked like she lived out of her guitar case brought out her guitar and started playing and singing. The whole moment was rather surreal and quite the coming-back from Montana, so take the following as what you will.
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I’m sitting in the B concourse of Denver International Airport, catching up on a bit of email and mulling over the last ten days.
It’s been a blur of road miles, bumpy flights, and nights in cramped quarters. But despite the road lag and the nagging fuzziness in my head, I’m – quite frankly – very much not looking forward to getting back into “the routine” in Austin.
Because, in the end, there’s nothing like a spring sunset in the Gallatin Valley, or towers of snow whirling their way through the upper reaches of Yellowstone National Park. Nothing inspires me quite like the wide open spaces of the West.
Part of being a creative professional is being able to produce no matter what the situation or circumstances. But where I’ve sometimes struggled in Texas to find that creative bug, it just comes naturally when I’m back home. Somehow I feel naked wandering through Montana without a camera close at hand. I find myself watching the light change throughout the day, seeing how the light is filtering through the day’s clouds, already planning when the light’s magic hour will hit and I can get out and shoot.
It’s the little things, like chickens and prayer flags in a ski bum’s backyard, or a pair of dirty Danner boots propped up at a bar in town. Little moments in time that are just begging to be photographed.
Looking back at the many great writers of the 20th century who made their way to Paris to feed off of each other’s creativity (reading a fascinating book on this – more to come), it’s easy to understand why these greats often spent their last dimes traveling to a place that fueled their creativity.
Sometimes, location does matter.
Tags: Moments
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