Monday, September 16th
Roadside Reflections - Journal Entry No. 2
9:46 am – Sun Tunnels • Northwest, Utah
Before packing up our campsite, I decided to give Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels one last visit. I went over with my Moleskine and pencil and situated myself in the shade of one of the tunnels. Through its lit holes, I could hear Sheenagh singing. She was in a different sun tunnel and her beautiful, delicate voice echoed through it. In another tunnel, American artist, Chris Willcox was practicing yoga. His eyes were closed, his shirt was off, and he was peacefully stretching his body in satisfaction. Earlier today, I saw Chris and another artist, Adeline, practicing yoga on the area’s dirt-like soil. They both seemed so in tune with their bodies and the land around them. I found it interesting. It’s a rarity to see people interact with the earth in that way.
In New York, people are so out of touch with nature. They wake up in their apartments, exit onto busy streets, enter into underground transit stations, ride the train, get off and then file into a building where they spend most of their day. There’s no real interaction with any of Earth’s natural life. Animals are limited to domesticated cats and dogs. Plants are, more often than not, artificial or kept in vases. It’s a fact that almost everything in New York is man-made. This is a lifestyle that most people, including myself, live. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I think it’s incredibly beneficial to escape every now and then and appreciate Earth’s natural gifts. Leaving the New York bubble has already given me a different perspective on nature, one that I think everyone should be exposed to; its beauty is serene and calming. With business always on the mind, even here, being in this environment relaxes me.
Only a few days in, the introduction to these natural environments is beginning to make me feel indignant of the life I live in New York. It’s so easy to neglect and mistreat the earth when you live in a city that lacks these signs of life. This land sees the effects of the pollution that cities like New York produce. We can’t see it, so we don’t feel it, but we’re quickly ruining the air and the land that supports us every single day.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Photography Credit: Adam Joseph Brochstein
Adam loves eating five cheeseburgers a week. To be honest, sometimes its more. It's a fairly terrifying sight. But he only enjoys a cheeseburger after he makes pictures. That comes first. He completed his B.F.A. at the Art Institute of Boston. He now resides in San Francisco, CA where he recently completed his M.F.A. in photography at the California College of the Arts. He formerly lived in Boston, MA where he relocated from south of the Mason–Dixon line, by way of Boulder, CO. Adam is available for editorial & commercial work and is actively pursuing his personal work as well.
Originally published on Promote & Preserve.