Drive: A Personal Narrative
A journey from childhood memories to finding my voice as a photographer.
Drive: A Personal Narrative from Geoff Ridenour on Vimeo.
Maybe It is was the three helicopters he went down in while serving in Vietnam. It might have been his memories of childhood and long road trips with his family. Whatever the reason we rarely chose flight. Travel plans with dad meant one thing; road trip. Dragging myself out out a warm bed and into the back seat of the family car fill my early childhood memories. I recall the feeling of drifting in and out of dreams as the warm sunlight slowly began cresting the horizon, casting a magical glow over the landscape. All of this captured through the frame of that old rear window; compositions shifting in the blink of an eye, never constant, always changing. This is how I discovered a passion I wouldn’t fully realize for nearly two decades.
I wasn't one of those straight out of high school, I know what I want to do, go to college, get the degree, meet the girl and have a family type people. I struggled. I struggled hard to discover my path in life. It took over a decade of traveling the country bouncing from one dirty bar job to another to end up here. It strikes me now that I've always been looking through the viewfinder. Not necessarily one on the back of a camera but nevertheless through a frame. I’ve held many titles over the years, son, brother, roofer, bartender, waiter, student. None of these felt right. Perhaps that frame that I had spent hours staring out as a child had become something more. It had given me a new title; Photographer.
A Memory & The Octopus
May 26, 2011
Today was another one of those long days that in the end was completely worth all the effort. Hauling a plastic red cooler into the school this afternoon I entered the studio prepared to spend a few quality hours behind the camera.
I had spent the past few days collecting the ingredients and props I would need to complete my shot. Another studio assignment and the theme and subject matter were completely open this time around. I’ve been thinking a lot about food photography the past few months and I feel I’ve been improving with every challenge and mistake I’ve encountered along the way. Often I find myself making photographs that bring me back to a place and time that has had a significant impact on my life. In this case an impromptu seaside picnic I enjoyed a couple years ago, half a world away. So what was in the red plastic cooler?
A memory...
