Jerome AZ. A Sunday Trip.

Jerome. AZ. 11/19/2017

When you first take a dive into the art world, you are braving a wilderness as Brene Brown puts it, alone in the pursuit of your vision, with the hope, that eventually with hard work and self improvement, you can succeed (whatever succeed means for you personally). If you're graced with the opportunity of showcasing your work at different venues, you start building relationships naturally, as you and your work are placed on display and you get to interact with like-minded individuals. But before something like this happens, it can be a lonely road and more so with the odd mix of being already a grown adult (with all that entails) but being new and somewhat naive in the art scene.

Anyways, this reflection leads me into this trip, as I took this trip, not alone but in the company of a fellow photographer, who's work I admire and who's integrity I respect: Johnny Kerr. We had met for coffee a couple of times and had talked loosely about maybe taking it up a notch and plan a photographic trip together. When next we talked about meeting up, we considered the notion of going out to take photographs more seriously and this is how this trip came about.

We met early around 6AM, with the idea of driving up to Jerome for the day, well at least start there and have an open agenda in case anything would come up. I personally had never been to Jerome but had heard of it, while I think Johnny, being an Arizona native, had visited several times before.

Down the highway, among conversations of the previous times we had driven this highway with our respective families, dawn starts to creep up on us. We had agreed if anyone of us spotted something we would immediately stop to explore it, but when the time came to it, having met only twice before, I guess no one wanted to be the first to call a stop.

Dawn is upon us, we arrive at a crossroads, get on a different road and continue as I suddenly spot a lone tractor on a piece of blocked off highway that I just pull over and decide to see if there was anything there or not.

The cold air bit into our hands but it was nice to stretch our legs, have a camera on hand, with a little anticipation building up. After a brief exchange, explaining what I had seen and wanted to explore, I start setting up while Johnny starts getting his equipment out as well. I got the shot I wanted and stand up to see Johnny setting up for a shot he spotted as well. His shot did require me to be on the look out for cars, as he needed to line up the shot from the middle of the highway that was still open.

Having the first couple of shots out of our system, we continue the drive to Jerome, alternating whose phone was hooked up into the speakers, sharing musical interests.

We stop a couple of times on our way up the hillside, taking some pictures and then we park in Downtown Jerome. Since this stop was going to last longer, we both take out of backpacks, our gear, some snacks and water. We walk out into Jerome, together at first but eventually we drift out in separate directions and meeting up several hours later, in time to get a bite to eat.

A few more shots in Jerome after lunch, and we decide to drive to a junkyard that's supposed to be around here with all sorts of old vehicles. We drive South and are unable to find it, then we drive north of Jerome towards Prescott. Halfway up, at a pit stop we decide we may not find this junkyard and then plan on driving back but a different way so we can make a stop at Watson Lake.

Watson Lake had a shot that Johnny once snapped with his iPhone and had since wanted to get it with a proper camera and maybe do a long exposure on the scene, but every time he had been back, the water level was all wrong and different. As we hiked to that spot, the we notice the water level is low enough for you to technically make it to some parts of rocks that the water would normally swallow.

Afterwards we decided to call it a day and head back to Phoenix. Personally I'm glad I got to do this trip with Johnny as we were able to share experiences, viewpoints and talk about the challenges we are facing but also we were able at different points to wander off each in our own direction as needed.

Don't know how much of this transfers over to other types of artwork, but It's a strange road to tread, at least I know I work best on my own when I'm exploring a shot, being able to submerge myself completely in the process without worrying about someone waiting for me, and at the same time being able to share that road with someone is truly unique.

Andres Gonzalez