The Big Dark

Abstract

It was just about five years ago that I started off on the journey that is now coming to an end. I was unhappily working away in the commercial photo industry as a digital technician and second shooter. Not a bad gig for a young man. I was making decent money, got to do a lot of traveling, and had the freedom of being a freelancer. But there was something big missing. This supposedly "creative" job I had was a farce. I did nothing creative; it was just the opposite. I was working in a factory pumping out the same image day after day. The majority of my time was spent retouching dust spots off of gray and white backgrounds, fixing flyaway hairs from models heads, and removing blemishes from their skin. This was a far cry from the magic that got me interested in photography when I was sixteen. After much thought, I quit the photo industry and devised a plan. I would go back to school to finish my bachelors, than apply to grad school and get my masters degree in studio art. I would make a new life in art and academia. I had decided I would become an artist/educator. And so I was off in search of creativity and knowledge; off in search of illumination.