Photo: Truck on rural two-lane highway road in the Central Valley, Butte County, California
What a long, strange trip it’s been… or hasn’t been… or will be.
If you like musical references, you might also recall David Byrne’s classic lyrical line, “We’re on a road to nowhere…” With that in mind, that’s why these images have spoken to me of late: evoking thoughts of being lonely, isolated, independent, unburdened, and/or heading off into the unknown.
It’s been just over a year since we here in the San Francisco Bay Area became the first counties in the U.S. to go into complete lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Back when this all started, I had all sorts of noble ideas of doing things around the house or for my business to keep me busy. Some things got accomplished as I envisioned, while other things… meh, not so much.
Through it all, I’ve felt like I’ve been on a long, strange trip to nowhere. But… that’s not an entirely bad thing. I’ve purposefully reframed this last year as though I was taking a sabbatical from my business. Of course, this started primarily due to the pandemic’s impact on travel and business in general, but I also took advantage of a couple non-photography-related temporary work opportunities — which I might not have done otherwise. In all, it was a refreshing and needed mental break given all the early COVID concerns and political turmoil of 2020. At some point, I/we — as an individual — need to turn off all the negative noise that surrounds us or we risk getting consumed by a fire that will burn us out.
Without going into too much detail, the aforementioned work opportunities gave me lots of time outdoors and a good workout every day, plus I didn’t need to think (read: worry) about my business as much. From a personal perspective and amidst everything else going on nationally, I found it to be a nicely liberating experience. That’s part of the reason the image of the empty truck heading down the road at sunset spoke to me; I love that implied feeling of being lighter with the load taken away, and at least for a time — one gets to feel momentarily unburdened.
I’ll admit to being very COVID sensitive due to my close proximity to an elderly parent, so I haven’t done any travel now for nearly 18 months; my last pre-Covid trip was in October 2019, save for a single long-weekend visit to my in-laws last year. You might recall I was scheduled to teach a number of workshops and leave for an extended trip on the very same day we got locked down.
That siren song… Do you hear it?
As we head into a new spring, my mind — like I’m sure it is with many of you — is starting to drift towards returning to some sense of a more normal life, including traveling again. But for someone who didn’t really enjoy crowds before the pandemic, I admit I’m not looking forward to dealing with them again any time soon. Six months ago I would’ve been spending nearly a month in Italy with my wife celebrating our 30th anniversary. While I’m not sure the world is quite ready for us all to jump on airplanes and tour the globe carefree again, at least those days are feeling a bit less far away.
Photo: Dirt road through rural green hills between the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada, Merced County, California
As of now, my sabbatical seems to be drawing to a close; I’m digging back into my photography again. Metaphorically-speaking, I’m getting the spark plugs and oil changed, the cylinders slowly firing again, and the motor warming back up again after a year-long winter. That’s the reason this second image speaks to me: It’s the quiet beckoning call of getting away, but with slow and careful consideration to remain more isolated rather than returning to the normal grind of a smog-clogged traffic jam somewhere amidst throngs of flocking tourists. — Who knows where the next road(s) may lead…
In the meantime, as vaccine distribution widens, I’m definitely looking forward to getting back out in the field again, whether alone, with friends, clients, and/or small groups. I’ve continued to keep up with some private mentoring sessions for a number of clients learning photography or post-processing through Zoom, but I do miss getting to visit clients at their homes and offices or out in the field with cameras in-hand.
Please let me know how you’ve been doing over the last year? How are you doing now? Are you making any travel plans yet, and if so, do you have any safety concerns? Even more importantly, What is your favorite thing to listen to when you’re driving along an open road?
Regarding COVID, if you are traveling, I would only please ask that you treat your fellow traveling humans with kindness and compassion, especially regarding any mask-wearing. You never know what someone else might have experienced in the past, or may be experiencing right now.
More soon, and for now, I’m wishing you all the very best,
~ Gary. 🙂
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Gary Crabbe is an award-winning commercial and editorial outdoor travel photographer and author based out of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. He has seven published books on California to his credit, including “Photographing California; v1-North”, which won the prestigious 2013 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold Medal Award as Best Regional title. His client and publication credits include the National Geographic Society, the New York Times, Forbes Magazine, TIME, The North Face, Subaru, L.L. Bean, Victoria’s Secret, Sunset Magazine, The Nature Conservancy, and many more. In 2018, The USPS selected a nearly-unprecedented seven of Gary’s photographs to become U.S. Postage ‘Forever’ Stamps as part of the O Beautiful collection. Gary is also a photography instructor and consultant, offering both public and private photo workshops, as well as being a professional Photo Editor and Content Creator.
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An interesting account, Gary — and quite similar to how I felt about it. And since you asked — I’d like to think that we managed quite well during the pandemic (piece of cake for introverted Gen X-ers, right?) but now that there’s the silver lining of vaccination and an end to all this on the horizon, I’m beginning to wonder… where do we go from here? I’ve gotten used to this more isolated “new normal” and the withdrawal from the world, I’m actually not sure right now if I WANT to go back to normal! I guess just like in the last 12 months… we just have to wait and see what will happen. 🙂
Staying close to home wasn’t the burden for us that so many have had to manage. We don’t own a television, we didn’t get caught up in any of the much-ballyhooed must-see shows. Because we live in a wide spot on CA1 straddling Sonoma and Mendocino Counties, with the basics available nearby, it’s been basically the same “country living with training wheels” as before Covid, but with masks. Would I like to load up my truck and hit the road, you bet. Will I do it this year? — we’ll see how the hinterlands are doing with infection rates as the places I want to go to are not known as hotbeds of public health awareness.
I’ve stayed busy with several design projects that have involved photography, one was local landscapes, often with buildings. My approach certainly reflects much of what proximity to Galen taught me for that wonderful few years I worked with you and his images, and of course those 2 workshops. Those were my best “Film Days” — right on the cusp of digital becoming viable, and then eclipsing film.
WWGS — What Would Galen Shoot?
Glad that you’ve managed ok, Gary. Hope you can enjoy that big Italy trip someday. We loved visiting Italy for the honeymoon and anniversary, there’s nothing quite like it.
Love the “Dirt Road,” image!
I can totally relate to everything you’ve saying here. I’m fully vaccinated now and while it feels very liberating, I’m not ready to just jump right back into the swing of things. There is comfort in the safer isolation, I think.
I adore both of these images! I do have a couple of suggestions … first, my absolute favorite, “Big Log,” from Robert Plant; my second would be, “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere,” by Dwight Yoakam. I always loved, “Just Plain Fine,” by George Strait. On a more cheerful note, there’s, “I’m Carrying Your Love With Me,” also by George Strait.
It’s wonderful that we can see some relief from this pandemic on the horizon! We are very lucky to have made it through!
Gary, I can very much identify with what you posted. Also in the Bay Area, my wife’s business was completely shut down for awhile, and when allowed to partially re-open, the customer base had dried-up. I got laid off from my day-job of 13 years, and a few weeks later, my mother passed away from non-COVID reasons; but her entire time in the ER, hospital, and nursing home of 5 months, I could only visit via Video.
“May you live in interesting times..”
Nice to hear what you have been up to and that you are well, Gary. I cancelled 4 trips, one was to the Canadian arctic for a caribou migration. Also all local photo trips ended. Although disappointed, being retired I felt lucky compared to those seriously affected by their heath or employment. Living near Los Aneles, my community of a little more than one square mile, now has 5,176 reported Covid cases and 84 deaths. Recent cases still are mounting. Because of underlying health condition, I have been extra careful and staying home except for a few doctor and dental appointments. I am getting spoiled with grocery delivery and I surprisingly have been quite content. Have been going through photo archives and re=processing some. I have been watching a lot of Netflix and Hulu shows as well as Zoom meetings for photography improvement or family connections and live police pursuits when they occur. I entered a few photo contests and was pleased to be in the finals among 50,000 entries of the London Natural History Museum Photographer of the Year awards. Last Friday I got my J&J vaccine, no aftereffects, and I feel light-hearted. I am now looking forward to some local outings and planning other photo projects.
I apologize, I was wrong about the first George Strait song I mentioned. The title is actually, “Peace of Mind.”