vs Boonville, NY

Christopher, Watercrossing, Boonville, NY

I have gotten many emails from NY residents that are "concerned" or disappointed with my lack of positivity on this here blog. I assure you, it's not you, it's me...

I've heard that before.

Seriously, this is a blog, this is in NO WAY a representation of the project. I can't stress this enough. The work is private. Only four or five people have seen select images from Missouri and North Carolina and only one person other then myself has seen it all. Other then Drew, my film developer, no one will see the full project until at least July of 2008.

Yes, the NY posts have been sparse, the last one was a bit of a downer, but that's the way this entire project has been. Are you only looking at the writing from NY and comparing it to the end of the Boonville, NC trip? The last week in NC was great. The first two were horrible! And much of Boonville, Missouri was horrible, I was a wreck. Read a bit more before you start judging.


Large Format bag, Mamyia 7II and jacket in field, Boonville, NY

I have (according to Drew) been producing some very interesting things while in NY (I get the work in the mail tomorrow). I came off of sixty straight days before arriving in Boonville, NY and I was very tired. Physically: I was strong like bull; Mentally: I was completely out of it. It took a while to get myself back up. I'm now just getting on my feet again and I have extended my stay by two weeks to take advantage of that.

Boonville, NY HAS been great. I've met some fantastic people and have had some great times. While I was in Boonville, Missouri I was being spread thin, I met so many people that I was finding myself running out of time; My thoughts and ideas were jumping all over the place. These days, when arriving into a town, I find and focus on only a select number of things. Otherwise, I'd get one-hundred OK or terrible photos rather then ten or twenty great ones. It's a process.

I'm not documenting Boonville, I'm documenting my interpretation of the current state of small-town America, and I'm using the six Boonvilles as my inspiration. I don't need to, nor could I, have my hand in everything while here.

Plus, I'm coming back...this way I can focus on twenty more things and get a new outlook at a different time of the year. I may have overdone this, but I hope this helps clear up any doubt or expectations anyone might have had about me, this blog, or my time in B'ville, NY.

P.S. If you get up everyday and check this blog and keep being disappointed: Stop getting up, or stop checking my BLOG!