A day in West Virginia
Recently while on a job in Washington, D.C. I had a rare free day from work. I decided to hire a car and use the time to get out of the city and off the beaten track with my camera. Leaving early on a Sunday morning I headed through Maryland toward the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Less than 100 miles from the capital it was both far enough to see what I hoped to be a slice of the 'real' America and close enough so that I didn't spend hours driving on Interstates.
I was very lucky; it was a beautiful spring day with crisp light and sharp shadows. But what was best, was that universal photographic feel-good feeling of being somewhere undiscovered, somewhere different. I’ve always pushed myself to photograph in my local environment and believe me, the home counties surrounding London are not exactly dripping with photographic opportunity. For me, it has inevitably become a sort of creative and mental exercise in seeing. I’ve always felt that ‘if I could shoot here, I can shoot anywhere’. Certainly, over the years as I have picked off all the close low-hanging photographic fruit, it has become more and more a challenge, but one that is still worth doing if only because it serves to amplify my excitement when I am somewhere new.
As a starting point I made my way to Martinsburg the largest city in the region and from there explored Shepherdstown, Charles Town and other areas in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties. Wandering around with a big camera around my neck caught the attention of one or two people, enough to start a conversation, the usual sort of thing ‘What are you doing?’ and ‘Where are you from?’ Happy to have a guest in their town, if a little puzzled over my desire to shoot, as they possibly saw it, in such ordinary everyday place.
I spent the day exploring street corners and roadscapes, searching for my own slice of Americana and by late afternoon the spring light finally turned slightly golden then dusky dark so, after shooting several rolls of film, I stopped for a waffle at the iconic Waffle Hut before the drive back to Washington with a sense of satisfaction over my small but perfect American road trip.
All photographed with CONTAX 645 on Kodak TMAX 400 & Fuji Pro 400H