CONTEMPORARY EXPLORER

  They were just marks on the pavement, but somehow they resonated in me. One time I worked for a very regimented company. Their rules were stringent down to dress code and punctuality. Every morning I drove my car and parked in the company lot. Surprisingly, almost to the minute other co-workers from my unit would arrive in their cars. Every morning was the same. Now mind you, these people lived in all corners of the city and took many different routes to work. Still, they all found themselves in the lot at the same time.  Being a work alcoholic at the time, I often left the office late. The lot empty by that time. All that remained were tire marks on the pavement of those leaving. Some gentle pull outs, others dramatic statements of wanting to get away.  I clearly was in the later group and eventually left that place for other adventures, but remember the marks on the pavement...some still there. David Young

  Rivers run next to rocks, next to grass, surrounded by birds and animals. How is it possible for all to exist side by side? It’s all about 92 natural elements that exist and how they interact with each other to form our world. The pure atoms of life. Only four elements make up 96.2% of all humans; oxygen, hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen. Eleven other elements make up trace amounts in our bodies. No matter what your origins, race or culture, we are all the same. Our lives are played out in a world that comprises beautiful elements, like gold and silver, and dangerous ones like mercury, polonium and radium. There is so much we don’t know about the natural elements and how they make life work. It’s like an abstract puzzle that dances around us. One we study, trying to figure it all out. The beauty and wonder of life is to behold, to embrace, to enjoy and be thankful for it. Above all though we are part of the natural elements, the world. We are all the same. David Young

  The age of digital photography is all about chasing perfection. Constant improvements create ever sharper photos and bolder colors. While they all look wonderful on the screen. There’s something about being able to hold a photograph in your hand. Not just a digital image produced by phone or camera, a real physical record of the shot you just took. Thats the allure of Instant Photography.  With time on my hands during this pandemic, I took the plunge buying two instant cameras (Polaroid Now and Fuji Neo Classic) and three, count them, three instant printers (Canon Selphy 1300, Lifeprint and Fuji instax). I really got the bug. Over the last fifteen years, I have just taken digital photos, my film cameras long departed. So I wanted to try something new. Thus began my instant photography adventure. After running around and playing with these devices, would I recommend them? The answer is NO, YES, MAYBE.. . The cameras produce what can be disappointing results. With Polaro...

          Plant Windows - Wadesboro NC

  Like some slumbering dinosaurs brought down to the ground, sitting silent uncared for by time. Names like Pacolet, Saluda, Lando, Flint and Great Falls no more.  Once great trucks parked here carrying raw materials and supplies, feeding the machines inside. Managers could tell by the sound if one worked wrong, shouting out its number to repairers. Legion of workers collected checks and kept small towns alive. Each carrying with them the pride of work and product done. Now only grass grows there. Machines long ago silenced. The same trucks that fed the plant were used to carry off production equipment, shipped over ocean to a cheaper labor force. Trucks that never came back again, the names of the drivers no longer spoken behind the plant. The small houses of the towns still holding the workers that once were there, but not their pride. The plant sits empty except for echos of the sounds, now only grass grows behind the plant.  David Young