The search for somewhere new

I am almost always looking for new places to take my camera. Not in a checklist or destination-driven way, but through a constant pull toward unfamiliar routes and landscapes I haven't explored yet. Even when I return to the same general area, I'll try to approach it differently, a new direction, a longer loop etc... The camera becomes an excuse to keep exploring outwards.

Orange Van on the coast, Photograph, Canon 2000d.

There's something important for me in taking new fresh images. Walking into new places creates a different set of photos each time. The uncertainty of the new place sharpens the way i see. Photographing the new landscape feels like discovery.

New places also disrupt habits. Familiar routes encourage familiar framing, however in unfamiliar landscapes, I MUST RESPOND TO WHAT IS ACTUALLY THERE RATHER THAN WHAT I EXPECT TO SEE. COMPOSITION BECOMES REACTIVE RATHER THAN PLANNED. SOME OF MY STRONGEST IMAGES COME FROM MOMENTS OF UNCERTAINTY. SOMEWHERE NEW LEAVES ROOM FOR INTERPRETATION. PACE IS LESS PREDICTABLE, I HESITATE MORE, PAUSE TO ORIENTATE MYSELF AND TAKE MY TIME TO TAKE IN THE NEW SURROUNDINGS.

Man made, photograph, canon 2000d.

This is why I am drawn to circular walks, longer routes, and paths that don't promise is a clear outcome. They allow space for things to unfold gradually. Often the most interesting images appear when the route doesn't behave as expected.

New places bring excitement... It keeps work from becoming too decorative. Some photographs feel unresolved, and I have learned not to smooth that out in editing. The uncertainty of the walk stays in the image - not everything needs to be clarified or resolved. Editing images of unfamiliar places leads me to be less attached to any preconceived ideas about how things should look.

Two surfers at slas, Photograph, canon 2000d.

This way of working also shapes how I think about memory. When I revisit a place through photographs, I am not remembering it in detail so much as I am remembering how it felt to encounter it. The IMAGES ACT AS MARKERS OF MOVEMENT AND ATTENTION RATHER THAN RECORDS OF LOCATION. THEY ARE REMINDERS OF MOMENTS OF CURIOSITY AND EMOTION I FELT AT THE TIME.

In looking for new places, I am not trying to escape familiarity, I am trying to stay engaged. The landscape keeps changing and so do I. Walking into new places with a camera is my way of keeping the pictures I take alive and recording new memories.