Mar 01 2009
Personal Geography: A PS Photo Challenge
The first day of Project Spectrum’s fourth incarnation: Cardinal Directions! I am excited to start off this new journey with so many of you! Thanks, as always, for the support and creative inspiration. Ravelry’s Project Spectrum group has been all abuzz with ideas, and the Flickr group is beginning to percolate as well. Please add your thoughts and projects to one (or both) of those outlets!
Using the cardinal directions as inspiration, I came up with a photography/writing challenge. I thought it would be an interesting way to explore our own personal geography – both physically and mentally.
Here is how you can participate:
- Determine which way is north from your location – use a compass or a GPS or simply look towards the sky.
- Grab your camera
- Orient yourself to look north – outside may be best for photographic clarity and “interestingness”
- Snap a photo of what you see
- Post your photo on Flickr, Ravelry, or on your own blog
- Feel free to describe what north means to you
- Repeat in different locations and in different conditions as many times throughout the months as you like
What is physically north of you: the city? the mountains? the ocean?
What is mentally north for you: a memory? a sentimental connection?
We woke up and headed out to my favorite restaurant for brunch this morning… it is such a treat to have a vegan place in the area. (Sidenote: I completely love the “brunch culture” of the DC region.) On the way there, I wanted to snap a few photos – from the passenger seat, I looked north and snapped these photos. I got the perfect blur effect- showing the temporal nature of these fleeting moments. (I set my camera to the TV mode setting and used a .5 second shutter speed.) North (and all of the directions in my immediate vicinity, actually) are filling up with suburban sprawl. The development to the North and the West seems to be a little slower, but still more than I would like. Things have really changed in this area since I moved here in 1998. It was an overcast day with on and off snow flurries – supposedly a big storm is coming in to the area tonight, moving in from the south. I am wondering what the world will like like tomorrow when I wake up!
I have traveled to many places in my 28 years – about 3/4s of the United States and a handful of other countries – yet, it seems like the NORTH is the least explored area in my own personal geography. The farthest north I have been? Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Before that trip last year, Boston (or perhaps Montana – not sure about the latitudes) was the most northern point geographically. Interestingly enough, it is the north that intrigues me so greatly – I want to travel to many places north: exploring more of the US, Canada, Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Norway… my list goes on, but these are so many of my top travel destinations (of course, you already know about my insatiable wanderlust, so I pretty much want to go everywhere in all directions…) I am heading north (and west) in a few weeks when Kris and I head out to Seattle…
Please share some of your thoughts on the NORTH. I would love to read them!
I am very excited about this Project Spectrum, and I hope you are too In fact, I even pulled out a ball of yarn that has been in the stash for a few years to cast on specifically for a PS project…
I’m pretty far north now in central Manitoba. You’re welcome to come visit me but I would be lying if I promised any vegan restaurants!
First thing that comes to mind: north is home, it’s here. Ok, I’m not the farthest north one can be, but with the winters we get over here, it sometimes feel like it!
I like the North; I come from the Northeast, and now live in the Northwest (in Seattle, actually!). In a year, I’ll live in the northern midwest. I have to agree with the last commenter; it’s hard to think of things that are “North,” because to me, that’s where I am. We did go north to Alaska a couple of years ago; I’d definitely add that to your list of northern destinations!
I agree with the others: north is home, and I love the north. I moved to Scotland 3 1/2 years ago and I absolutely love it here. It’s cold and dark in the winter, and (slightly) warmer and (much) lighter in the summer.
I am so looking forward to attempting Project Spectrum this year after reading about it the past few months! As a budding photographer I am loving this suggestion!!
i love the idea of capturing north, north always signals home to me. we live nestled in the base of the san gabriel foothills ( a bit of a misnomer as the peak behind our house is about 1000′,). the thing i see everyday before i turn left onto my residential street are those foothills, due north. today i overcast, but when the light comes, i will make sure to contribute.
north is also synonymous with the pacific northwest and canada to me also, places i wish i were able to be much more than i can right now.
North… as I mentally think of a word north, some scenes such as dark sky, snow, rain, wind, rugged coastlines simply come to my mind. I, however, physically feel north to be something so warm and full of vitality. I actually had been in Sweden twice for three years in all. And I enjoyed short yet the prettiest in the world summers with warm-hearted friends. That’s the reason north physically makes me feel as if it’s my home.
Yay, new cycle of Project Spectrum!! Woot for green! I really like the idea of this challenge and will have to be sure to shoot something appropriate soon.
I think that I’m like you in that I want to visit more places to the North but haven’t quite gotten there (hello, I haven’t even been to Vancouver since living here). I do have to admit that I’m a bit put off by the thought of colder climes, but every place has at least a bit of summer, right?
I am writing to see if you could email me. I work in PG hospital center, and a coworker was just diagnosed with Lyme disease. I know that you had a significant struggle with this last year. If you feel comfortable with it (I understand if you do not.) I would like to talk(email or phone, whatever you prefer) to you regarding your experience during the recovery period. If there were any changes in diet that helped you, if there are any local specialists that you recommend.
I do read your blog religiously, and love your photographs!
katrynka at gmail dot com
What a great idea! I’m looking forward to participating in the photo/writing challenge of this Project Spectrum!
Oooh, fun. I will try to do some photo taking this weekend (although there’s nothing riveting facing north from my house). I will also try to think about what north really means to me.
For me North is memories and peace. I grew up in the Northeast, and now live in Baltimore, so North is home. My husband and I also have a home on a lake in Northern Michigan, so Up North is our sanctuary. My family is originally from northern Germany, and my favorite trip was a cruise through the Baltic Sea, which is certainly North. I love North, although I never thought about it in that way before.
what a great idea, Lolly! I haven’t taken a picture in more than a month. This is just the thing to get my creative juices flowing again.
Neat idea! Too bad the view north of our house is so ugly (it’s the duplexes next door where the kids from hell live). I’m still going to go out today and try and find some beauty in the area north of my house!
[...] continues to whirr with excitement and inspiration – many participants are including photos for the PS Photo Challenge that I mentioned in my last post. The group has over 1000 members now, and there is a great spirit [...]
I have always been drawn to the North. My dreams take me there climbing mountains to the edge of the ultimate North. Some one near to me that passed away came to me in a dream that he was coming to the North for me even though I did not know that he had died. It was the first time I climbed to the North in my dreams and I have done so many times after. There was a narrator that spoke in the end of the movie “Legends of the Fall” that the protagonist of the movie made his way to the North towards the veil between this world and the next. I have lived in Superior WI/Duluth MN. The Snow Queen is a very favourite story of mine since childhood. A.S. Byatt discusses a woman from the North who meets a man of the South in her short story “Cold” from her book titled Elementals. Joni Mitchell writes of her North in Canada where she goes to escape and create her art in many of her songs. I always wanted to go to Lapland and see the reindeer there.
Hi Lolly!
I must de-lurk now to tell you many things….but the first is that I LOVE Great Sage! It was so cool to see you mention it and post a photo. What a wonderful restaurant it is. Beautiful atmosphere and fabulous food. I work right across the street from there!
Yep, I’m a neighbor. I live in Columbia, too. I’ve been reading this blog for a while now, maybe a couple of years. Found it through other Columbia fiber blogs, if I remember correctly. I love your writing, your photography, your artistic skills with knitting and weaving. This has been one of my daily go-to websites!
Like I said, I just felt the need at this time to leave a comment……we have much in common including knitting, weaving, yoga (things I am currently not doing but intend to get back too SOON!), spending time in the outdoors, dogs, and trying to improve our health with diet. Because of my Rheumatoid Arthritis, I have always been interested in alternative therapies. Right now I am exploring and having a BALL with online raw food communities (not 100% raw yet) like rawfu.com and Capital City Raw. I am also 100% gluten free.
So thanks letting me share here. Keep up your good work! I look forward to reading more from your blog! Thanks for sharing the beautiful things in your life with us.
All the best,
Meredith
North – Harsh, cold, unforgiving. Stark in beauty. North is where the expression “Survival of the Fittest” no longer applies. Survival of the smartest is the rule.
I live in Delaware and physically north of me is the big hulking expanse of Dover International Speedway. But when I think of NORTH, I think of the Pocono Mountains in eastern PA. Husband and I try to get up there for a week several times every year. I think of relaxation, walks on trails thru the area. He thinks of GOLF!!
[...] something like that. She said it over here on her recent post, part of Project Spectrum’s focus on NORTH during March and April. Go out, find North and [...]
[...] part of Project Spectrum, Lolly has also set a photography challenge to get people to explore their own geography. I am really keen to explore this idea more, get out [...]