Jelly Roll’s song “Dead End Road”, featured on the Twisters soundtrack, has become my go-to song whenever I’m on a plane. I’ve been listening to it as the plane takes off and lands, a habit I started last year. It’s become a good luck charm for my travels.
When I’m listening to the track, I feel like Jerry Roll is speaking to me directly, and it really fits my life and my photography journey. For the past few weeks, I feel like my photography and I have been heading down a dead end road.
I’ve been pushing myself to do better with my street photography, which has made it harder. I no longer shoot as much as I used to. Don’t get me wrong, I always carry my camera with me, but it’s very rare that I’ll take a photo. I’m in Sitges as I write this blog. I’ve been here for four days so far, and I’ve taken less than 30 photos. I’ve travelled into Barcelona a couple of times, and again I took maybe 30 photos over that time.
The days of me shooting for hours in the day have long gone and now I find myself mostly doing street photography when I travel. I don’t really bother when I’m back home. There’s not much I haven’t shot when it comes to street and this is why I’m pushing myself and only taking the photos that are somewhat different and fresh to me.
When I’m on the street with my camera, I walk slowly, observing everything while listening to music. I breathe deeply and mindfully. I make sure to take a moment when I start feeling frustrated. If I’m in Spain, I might stop at a café for a juice or find a bar that sells Radler, a perfect summer beer. I’ll end up holding the ice-cold glass, looking around, and I’ll start smiling. The thought of how lucky I am to be in Spain, enjoying this moment of mindfulness, helps me refocus my thoughts on my photography. It doesn’t matter if I take 100 photos or none at all; I’m learning to simply enjoy the moment.
I’m incredibly fortunate to have Elizabeth as my wife. Yes, she can be a pain in my ass especially with her incessant coughing and snoring. Honestly, she makes more noise than Godzilla when he’s wreaking havoc in Tokyo. However, I don’t know any other wives who support their husbands quite like Elizabeth does for me. I’m always on the lookout for cheap trips to Spain and she never hesitates to help me book them. Sometimes she even joins me, which is fantastic. I think she lets me go because for a few days, she doesn’t get kicked when we’re in bed, as I can’t sleep because of the noise she makes.
I’m sitting in a wonderful cafe here in Sitges watching the world pass by the window, the sky is blue without any clouds and the sun is shiny, I know back home the weather is awful, cold and windy which sucks, this is why I’m always feeling down when I’m home. There’s no way I could feel anything but happiness while being here in Spain, I don’t feel I have to wear a mask of happiness when I’m here, I can just find a bench by the beach and wait for a moment to pass me, I really don’t have to work at photography when I’m here.
My dead end road is definitely at home.
