Nowhereville (Prologue)

Some time ago, just before she left for good, we we’re lying in bed, me and her, her and me. I think we might have been listening to those mad pigeons scrambling in the roof again, doing that crazy dance they did, but I can’t be sure anymore. What I do remember is telling her what I wanted to do, how I wanted to capture memories of the world, how I wanted to create something some might possibly find ‘beautiful’. I don’t think I made myself very clear though, incoherently rambling on like I tend to do, I think she thought I was simply being morbid. Anyway.

What I’m trying to get at in a ever so labored way is that this coming summer I’m going to attempt this feat, this impossible, utterly subjective attempt at capturing something a certain few might construe as being ‘beautiful’. I’m going to travel far and wide in search of decaying memories, which is of course intangible by their very nature, but what I’m hoping to do is to give them substance in the form of all those sad and lost places alongside the road. Abandoned houses, crumbling cinemas, empty stations and railway lines, signs of places and lives that where once very tangible indeed. Through these ‘signs’, these places, I hope to give them some form of ‘memory’ again, where it might have completely vanished in time, or is very close to being utterly lost. My latest series ‘Nowhereville’ will be the inspiration for this attempt, because while I think it’s a reasonably good start, it certainly needs some elaboration and possibly a somewhat larger scope, which these travels will hopefully provide.

My plan of action is to fund this leap of faith by means of a crowd funding platform, because, well, unfortunately I’m rather poor and searching for ‘decaying memories’ needs train tickets, film (yep, going full on analog on this one), printing costs, framing, publishing etc, because at the end of the trip I’m planning on self publishing a photo book, and also I’m going to arrange an exhibition or two – which, being an unknown and all will most probably also have to be self financed, hence the printing and framing costs. My supporters will then receive printed frames of their choice, and also a copy of the book as a big ‘thank you’ as I would really like to make them a part of this whole experience, because, I mean, at the end of the day it’s universal memories, not so?

In the coming days and weeks I’ll be sharing more of my intended itinerary, the proper project statement/link, a new portfolio, latest ideas, a possible collaboration I’ve got planned, developments, and so forth. So then, thanks for listening, and if anyone has any thoughts or advice on the matter please give me a shout, it would really be much appreciated as this whole venture is very much new territory for me, and while exciting, it’s also ever so slightly intimidating. If you like, you can also send me your Twitter handle for updates along the way.

Last but not least, I would like to thank a few people for all the superb encouragement they’ve been offering over the months, Marina over at http://marinachetner.com/ , seriously, without her continued support and kick ass attitude I don’t think (know) I would have taken this bold leap. Thanks, Marina. Also, Adrian over at http://eccentric99.wordpress.com for his much needed friendship and enthusiasm, you know I appreciate it, man. And then of course there’s Florian at http://www.hobokollektiv.net/ for those tunes he loves so much, his shared outlook, his inspiration, thanks, brother.

* I’ll also continually be updating this project profile at http://www.behance.net/Cameravagrant