Memories of The North

Some of you may know, if you read my about page or know me personally, that i spend a good amount of time living in Northern California. Not the bay area, that’s not NorCal, that’s like, MidCal. I don’t know why people can’t make that distinction. Anyway, I spent about 2 1/2 years in Humboldt County, living the dream and finishing up my years of schooling. Living up there, in the smack dab middle of the red wood forest was such an amazing experience for me. I definitely felt like I needed to see myself outside of Anaheim to figure myself out, who I was, my interests, my strengths and weaknesses. Needless to say I found all of that and then some. But, the beauty of the area is what stays with me whenever I think back to that time. Waking up to clean, crisp air, stepping out in the cold morning to see the trees, high and mighty; most of all the views within the forest were breathe taking.

I digress, with most of my work, I attempt to create photos that not only are pleasing to the eyes but that allow you to empathize with the subject. I want my work to bridge a gap of understanding between the outside world beyond our vision and broaden our awareness to the things that exists beyond what we think we know. These bridges can be used as opportunities to grow, to allow ourselves to be humbled or to be inspired to search for something new that we never thought could exist within our lives until that very moment.

‘Memories of The North’ is currently a project that is a work in progress that I would like to have finished in the near future. What I hope to do with this project is recreate, as best as I can, my experience walking in the redwood forest that was right beside my home. To me, it was a very humbling experience, to see the tall, mighty trees tower you, the vast scenery of ferns that stretched for miles but there was still a feeling that the forest was displaying its beauty to you at every corner. There were beautiful breaks of light that leaked into the forest during a sunny day that almost looked like stage lights in a theater, and each spot the light hit was a piece of the forest being presented to you. I felt a personal connection with this forest and the town around it, it allowed me to see that life grows in its own pace but even at a slow pace, it is much more abundant than what we can imagine. ‘Memories of The North’ I guess is a homage to that feeling, I want to complete it soon to share this experience with others. The fern above was the 2’o clock showing at the Arcata Community Forest.

ALSO between two ferns on netflix is hella funny, check it out.