Travelogue 1/28 | Capitol Square, Richmond

Found Earth Art Cairn | Leftover materials

Artificial Light > Natural light. For now.

Three-Trunked-Tree, remember this.

 I went to Capitol Square in the hopes that I would discover something that juxtaposed a manicured, controlled garden with some sort of honest, un-tempered and raw character of nature. I discovered something not entirely different from expectations.

Following my original plan to capture something raw I left early, around 6:40am, in order to capture daybreak at the Capitol. When I got there, it was entirely deserted, and the sky was a delicate shade of lavender. Photography was difficult, not only because little light meant long exposures were necessary, but much the light was very flat as it was only rolling over from the east.

For my overall experience, this issue was necessary. This exploration allowed me to develop, more than my sense of contrast and similarity of manicured and raw nature (which is present in the photographs here), is some understanding of night and day.

Not yet broken.

Broken, also, excellent lens flare.

Certainly, I've seen sunrises and sunsets in the past; but never before had I understood the difference between the time preceding and succeeding dawn. Dawn and daybreak are truly liberating and grand. They are powerful and in many ways revolutionary.

I would like to tell you that watching dawn shatter this way is something subtle and delicate, but it is not. It is one of the boldest things I've ever seen, experienced. The "golden hour" that I went questing for in order to uncover nature's more honest character
turned out to be an honest embodiment nature in itself. For those of you who do not know what the "golden hour" is: it is the approximate first last hour of sunlight a day. I chose the first hour since I figured it would be quieter and more isolated. A big part of what looked at however did not simply revolve around the golden hour.

Rosa Parks Statute fading into treees.

As seen in some these photographs, sculptures around the Capitol building share an aesthetic: dark metal or stone on light bases with a typical memorial style throughout. They fit well and match, but can be viewed from certain angles in which the nature and these man-made sculptures, which I would not consider Earth art, interact in a way it is fascinating. Particularly in the statute with the man mounted, it is as though the tree seems to respond to the statue, or perhaps just the way I shot it.

Mounted Statue with Tree.

Returning to the golden hour, the best understanding of this experience and of night and day dawn and daybreak can be observed in the two photographs of the three trunked tree. The first, dark, slightly out of focus and shaking due to the long exposure is contrasted with the second, a literal explosion of light.

Falcon. Check out on the full resolution album
the sunlight in his underside.

The last necessary comment of my travelogue regards the importance of sound. There were, admittedly, cars and various man-made processes occurring during my exploration, but with a want of people and tourists, a lack of business and commerce occurring, I was able to notice things that I would not have been able to previously. Below is a short clip looking at the mounted statue aforementioned, and listening to birds sound nearby bird sounds. This video led me to realize that nearby was a falcon. Although is difficult to photograph, he serves as an apt metaphor for my experience. By going and looking for one style of thing, the expectations may not be wholly met; however, in remaining awake and alive, conscious of the world, one might just find something for which getting up at 6 AM is worth.

Three-Trunked-Tree 2.0