ned
I was reading Charles A. Eastman, a famous Sioux who spent his adult life trying to bridge the gap between white man and their misunderstanding of his people’s ways. Sioux are Native Americans who’s land stretched across Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska: the Midwest of the United States of America.
Eastman recounted about a tour he led through a gallery in Washington with a group of Sioux chiefs.
“Ah!” exclaimed an old man, “such is the strange philosophy of the white man! He hews down the forest that has stood for centuries in its pride and grandeur, tears up the bosom of mother earth, and causes the silvery watercourses to waste and vanish away. He ruthlessly disfigures God’s own pictures and monuments, and then daubs a flat surface with many colors, and praises his work as a masterpiece!”
I love nature. It breaks my heart when a tree is cut down, when a clearing is made, when a fire is burned excessively or needlessly, or when non-decomposing matter is strewn onto sweet Gaia’s path. Tragic really.
I love single track trails winding their way through the forest, perking my ears to the slightest of nature sounds, identifying any species imaginable and letting my eyes follow any movement scrambling through sweet Gaia’s hair.
I grew up in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, a Northern community nestled in a basin where the Fraser River meets the Nachako. I had a wonderful time growing up there with my two brothers, Bart and Cyril. My brothers were always there to make sure my knees got dirty and I knew how to hammer a nail to build a tree fort. My parents provided us every experience a young boy could ever want. Before most of my memory kicks in, I had been across Canada and the United States – multiple times – exploring in a Volkswagen Bus. I remember all of us pushing it down the road to jump start it one particular trip.
I feel, knowing this, it’s easy to see how my nomadic heart beats so.
The majesty of this world, for some reason, makes me want to share the glory I see any way I can, to expose her in hope to win respect for her. I believe we all have our own special way we do this, but I feel I do it in a way that makes me special. Is this my ego?
As with technology and art, I am constantly putting effort into bridging the gap between technology, art, and nature. “Hey, why don’t I take digital photographs of nature with an artistic eye and share it on social media?” Saving the destruction of this world’s environment and ecosystem is a major focus in my life.
I believe that through story telling we can re-define how we see the world. I believe that marketing and branding is nothing but story telling, except with a profitable end goal. I believe I tell stories with my photographs, but I know that I can do this more clearly with a direct message.
I want to build a community with my story telling.