For this module, I will be staying close to home and shooting right out my front door, exploring the Jamestown community and landscape.
This old mining town situated in the foothills of Boulder, CO was established in the late 1800s by James Smith, one of the early discoverers of gold. Since the gold rush days, this little town has been home to no more than 300 residents. I can speculate why this may be the case, but I can’t say for certain. Though I think this could be due to its location nestled in the lower part of James Canyon where many fear the winding and icy roads or it could be from the flooding that can occur. In its history, there have been three major floods that wiped out homes and land in the area. The most recent one being in 2013, resulting in most of the town being evacuated.
When I moved here in 2017 the town was still very much under reconstruction. Five years after the flood houses and roads were still in the midst of intensive repair or replacement. Debris from homes swept away could still be found along the river and brides. Over the past three years, as I have gotten to know my neighbours and others in town I have heard many stories about the flood and each of their experiences. What sticks out each and every time someone tells their story is how much it brought the community together and how everyone was so willing to help each other rebuild homes and lives, provide meals, help rescue animals and so much more. I would say now in 2019 most everyone has settled back in and is moving on with life, but with a sense of a closer, tight-knit community surrounding and supporting them.
Moving on with his project in Jamestown, I want to explore how some of these people have made their life here and why they choose to call this place home.
One reason I am looking forward to staying close to home for this part of my project is that I feel it really gives me the opportunity to concentrate on the direction and style of my work, and to focus this energy in a place where I find inspiration from not only the landscape, but the people who inhabit it.
The primary change I wanted to make from the last module was in how I was shooting. In using film now I find the aesthetics, clarity, and process are more fitting to the overall feel and direction for this project. And though I have been shooting film from day one, it has been some time since it has been my main shooting style. This shift in my project gives me the push and focus to really pay attention to the actual process of making a photograph to the standard I want to uphold myself to.
With that said, this week I started to put together a rough shot list and ideas of how I wanted to go about shooting here. I also shot my first roll of 120 and developed it at home. I was not overly pleased with the images, as the colours were not quite right and I think that between being a little loose with my metering and the need for fresh developer, the images could have been better. However, I feel this got me started in the right direction and ignited a renewed excitement and inspiration.
