A Pilgrimage to the Desert

By the time you read this I'll already be cruising through Southern California on my next photo journaling / video shooting adventure. And while it may sound like a nice vacation, the reasoning behind the trip is actually something far more substantial and has been a long time coming. 

In 2011, after the death of my close friend Dave, I began talking about Searching Salvation - a personal video project I wanted to create. Dave and I had taken road trips down to California in 2009 and 2010, both of which had become pretty memorable events in our friendship. The following year he passed unexpectedly and naturally my memories of him centered on these major road trips we took.

Our visit to Salvation Mountain near the Salton Sea in Southern California was an especially significant stop. It was one of those places we knew very little about beforehand, but the timing and mood during the visit made the experience seem almost euphoric. We spoke to Leonard Knight one on one, the creator of this artistic mountain in the desert, and his passion was equally contagious. If you've seen the movie Into the Wild you'll have an idea of what I'm talking about. Sadly, Leonard has also passed now.    

So why the return visit? For several years I've talked about wanting to retrace the steps I took with Dave on our final trip. Not only did I shoot video during our initial road trip, but I'd passed off one of my cameras to Dave so that he could shoot footage as well. I found myself inspired to create a short film about what our visit to Salvation Mountain meant, and how the memory of that place became crucial in my own grieving in the months that followed. Losing a close friend so young was devastating for all of us in our social circle, but my memories of the road trips we took are nothing but positive. In the years that have followed I've grown and had lots of time to think about how the loss changed me. I've also been recharged by the fact that Dave and I even created those memories in the first place.

My decision to go now was ultimately a spontaneous one made several weeks ago. After the experience I had in driving through Alberta's Rockies this summer, I felt compelled to do this road trip solo - flying down and then driving through the desert for a week. I'm thinking of the trip as a way to relive some personal memories, but it's also a bit of a pilgrimage to put the last few years of my life into perspective as well. So, it really is going to be an adventure - one that I've waited several long years to finally take.

Searching Salvation Update #3

On the anniversary of my friend Dave's passing three years ago today, my mind inevitably drifted towards the project that I was so motivated to put together following his death - Searching Salvation. I wanted to recap the visit we took to Salvation Mountain near the Salton Sea in Southern California in a video that put my thoughts into perspective. It was defining moment for both Dave and I, a true highlight on our cross country road trip, and a moment of euphoria that I felt captured our friendship in a truly poetic experience. 

Over the last few years I've shared brief updates, similar to this, explaining how the project was in the back of my mind. That really hasn't changed. My thoughts on what Searching Salvation should be certainly have though. The passing of time has made me less focused on rehashing those old memories, and more interested in creating something new to memorialize one of my best friends.

The timing isn't so important anymore now that I've stretched it out this long, but I see an opportunity to tell this story in a new short film that's framed by a return visit to Salvation Mountain. I'd love to retrace the steps we took, capture the surroundings more fully, and bring new context to the road trip that essentially was our last hurrah before he died. That's where the project is. That's the story I want to tell now. 

These are some of the original image edits I did for the project (from 2009 road trip). 

Searching Salvation Update #1

It's been months since I last looked at anything to do with Searching Salvation. The project ended up on the back burner in 2012 as Around the Hat continued to expand and the response grew. As I mentioned in my first post of 2013 though, one of my goals for this year is to finally see this memorial / personal documentary / video poem about the death of my friend Dave and our visit to Salvation Mountain completed.

Looking back at images from our visit to the California desert in 2009 and our following road trip in 2010, the nostalgia trip has been really powerful. Especially after my break from the project, I feel like I'm looking at everything with a renewed sense of euphoria that echoes what the original experience was like. I've almost entirely re-edited my library of Salvation Mountain images for the project as a result. I really just wanted to share that I'm making progress once again and the importance of this project hasn't been lost on me. I'm building on what I already had, and approaching portions of the edit fresh and with greater ambition. 

There's still a lot to do, and I feel a weight from the expectations I've put on myself from what I want to see the finished project become. No matter what though, the goal is now wrapping up this project and finally debuting it by late August / early September 2013 - the 2 year anniversary of Dave's death and coincidentally, the 4 year anniversary of our original road trip. Stay tuned for more as Searching Salvation continues to get back up to speed this spring.

Leonard Knight: Indio Outio

Day Five (08.27.09) I never had any intention to interview Leonard Knight when I first thought about heading out to Salvation Mountain. The conversation we did end up having just struck up after we went to thank him for letting us tour his site.

Leonard lives in a little trailer right next to Salvation Mountain, and not surprisingly, the trailer is decked out in paint just like everything else in the vicinity. His lifestyle and focus have clearly defied convention.

You'll notice my low angles, and it's because I wasn't that concerned about my footage as much as I was about having a real conversation. Leonard is nearly 80 years old, and who knows how much longer he'll be around to talk about his mountain or give personal tours. More than just a subject for a video, I really do respect Leonard Knight for what he's accomplished in such a unique way.

This edit over all the others was interesting to construct because Dave was using my mini-cam to capture footage also. It made it a lot more interesting to cut between dialogue. All around, this experience proved to be a great cap to an already amazing road trip.

Searching Salvation Teaser

I announced earlier last month that I had begun work on a Salvation Mountain project in memory of my friend Dave and the road trips that we took together in 2009 and 2010. I'm hoping to have the project complete in 2012, at which time I'll be considering various ways to promote and share this new short film.

I've titled the short, Searching Salvation in reference to our time exploring Salvation Mountain and the more enigmatic themes of life, death, and deliverance from loss.  I'm excited by the potential of this project to reach others, to share my stories, and to memorialize Dave in a way that feels so unique to the friend that I knew.

While the message sounds broad, the actual project isn't about a religious revelation. It's about Dave and the power of memories, the value in understanding your own mortality, and finding joy in sadness.  Searching Salvation will be one of the most personal projects I'll have ever done once it's completed.  I can't wait to share more, but for now I'm happy to give everyone a sneak peek of the project with this new teaser.

As the Search Continues

A few nights ago, digging through a photo box of road trip memorabilia, I began rewriting portions of my rough outline for Searching Salvation.  I don't think I've ever dwelled on a project this long before.  My personal documentary/video poem about the death of my friend Dave, and our memorable visit to Salvation Mountain needs to be just right.  I feel like it's my final word on Dave's death, and I think I'm striving for it to be a bookend of sorts.  

Since editing a memorial video for Dave just days after his death, I feel like Searching Salvation is more about the context of our friendship, the meaning behind it, and less about the shock or frustration that I felt after it happened.  It's a challenge striking the right balance, and I want to be truthful in why our experience at Salvation Mountain was meaningful to begin with, and not just aggrandize it because Dave is gone.  At this point in my life I feel like just thinking about this as much as I have has really helped me grow and appreciate specific moments.   

My goal now is to have the project complete by September 10, the anniversary of Dave's death.  I think the timeline is realistic, and as the memories are going to be coming back for a lot of us around that date, I think it'll be a meaningful tribute focused on moving forward.  If anything, this entire project has given me an outlet to do just that.

Salvation Mountain, Salton Sea: Part 2

A continuation of my photo set from Salvation Mountain near Niland, California.