Fogo Island-NL

I am always in search of remote place that's kind of frozen in time.  A place where technology hasn't erased the traditional culture of the area.  It is getting difficult to find places where our modern technology hasn't changed a long history of culture in one generation.  Currently big tech companies are launching over 3,300 internet satellites to cover every square inch of the world.  A drastic change will come to places that are not part of the culture of high tech and social media.  I question what effect this will have when all humans are walking around with their necks bend over looking into a 3"x5" screen.  Who will control the world and what information will be inputted to our devices to feed our minds and form our beliefs.  The above image was made on Fogo Island.  It is a place in transition but still reflects the culture of the people that migrated here to fish in the cold arctic seas.  The place is quiet and much of the old fishing industry is still evident with the wooden boats and stages on the shorelines.  The people that live here come from a long history of the hard work of fishing at sea that forms a deep bond with their neighbors.  These places with the people that live there are special to me.  How long it will remain is uncertain.  Change is inevitable but not always good.  

2019

If I had an image to describe the year 2019, this would be it.  It may have not been the worst year I have experienced in my lifetime but it certainly came close.  We all experience struggles in our lives and it is how we cope with them that determines if we can overcome them.  Health issues complicate our lives and takes patience to deal with.  They can zap us of our desire to do our routine things and dampens our enthusiasm and ability to dream.   Despite dealing with these issues I managed to still get out and explore some new locations and meet some nice people along the way.  The hardest thing this past year has been staying organized with my photography.  I have always had a clear vision of my goals and what direction I wanted to take with my photography.  I have created some wonderful images  this past year but somehow few of them have given me the satisfaction I desire.  I decided to give up all social media because it has a negative effect on my creative abilities.  I found that I spent time thinking about what others thought of my work more than usual.  As with all new years we make promises to ourselves how we are going improve things over the previous year.  That is all well and good but little of your energy should be spent there.  The most effective thing a person can do is be honest with themselves and deal with the essential things in life and let the good things come freely and on their own.