002 - Starting the Conversation
This is Cody Schultz, and I’m lying on the couch, typing this newsletter with dirt beneath my nails. The weather outside is cool, yet spring is officially in the air. Seeds are being sown, garden beds are being cleared of winter detritus, and I am ready to get my paws dirty. You’re reading Explorations, my monthly newsletter, and man, I’m glad you’re here.
Back From Japan
Today marks three weeks since I landed stateside. Three weeks of reintroducing myself to the American way — remembering to tip your waiters (and everyone else, apparently); being unable to walk much of anywhere; not being able to hop on a train or a bus to take me to the other side of the country in a few short hours. Ah, and let’s not forget about the food here, so filled with sodium and fat and — let’s be real — shit. So much for a light meal or two that fueled me through the day without issue, left me satiated but not stuffed. Instead, I find myself back to my old ways, my weak mind screaming for sugar, for junk of any kind. Dopamine, not from the joys of exploration but from food. I have said it before, and I will say it again until a difference is made: I need to re-evaluate my diet and exercise routine.
For now, I continue to grapple with my trip to Japan. Only recently have I begun feeling better about the photographs I came away with — a few of which litter this missive — but, really, it will be a while longer before I feel confident enough to create a portfolio on the site with them, to possibly sell prints of them, to maybe even put together a zine.
Most of my thoughts around Japan involve feeling like I did something wrong, like I screwed up what otherwise could have been an amazing adventure. This isn’t to say the trip wasn’t amazing — it absolutely was. But it wasn’t amazing in the same way I expected it to be amazing. Here comes the issue with expectations: they never work out as you hope them to.
When I set out for Japan, I hoped to spend the majority of the two weeks surrounded by nature, exploring the various forests of the Nagano Prefecture. The original plan was to do this with a few other photographers, relying on them to shuttle and show me around. Unfortunately, this didn’t work out how I had hoped. Two of the photographers I planned to spend a decent chunk of time with, weren’t able to meet up due to alternative obligations. The others worked out fine, albeit a bit shortened in one way or another. So, instead of hiking around for a cumulative nine days, I spent only four. The rest of the time, I walked around a number of towns and cities, seeing and experiencing what I could.
Am I happy with the trip? Yes, without a doubt. If anything, these failed expectations have provided me with new ideas for next time. There absolutely will be a next time, whether as soon as the autumn or as “late” as next spring. The fine details will work themselves out, but I will work twice as hard to spend as much time in nature as possible.
There are many more thoughts streaming through the background of my conscious mind, but for now, I find myself needing more time to calm my thoughts of, namely, self-deprecation.
The Green Desert of Wales
I have long loved the work of Ben Lockett, a photographer based out of the United Kingdom. Automotive design engineer by trade, Ben focuses his lens on both the people and nature around him. Using a mix of 4x5” large format and digital medium format, his largest project is titled The Green Desert of Wales. Here, he has put together a beautiful collection of photographs of various subjects: abandoned buildings, picnic tables, scarred trees, and the people he meets along the way.
For the past year or so, Ben and I have frequently discussed photography at large, as well as the details behind this project of his. I have watched him work toward a proper monograph, dealing with local printers and going through plenty of trials and tribulations. To say I am excited to see Ben’s The Green Desert of Wales come to its truest form … words simply don’t do justice to my feelings.
If you’d like to be notified via email when orders are available, you can subscribe to Ben’s mailing list (and take a look at the project) here.
Starting the Conversation
On Wednesday, March 26 at 07:00 pm ET, I will be presenting my first ever talk to the Lehigh Valley Photography Club. I’m not certain whether I am more excited or nervous, to be honest.
Titled Starting the Conversation: A Walk with Mental Health, I take you, hand-in-hand, along the path I have ventured since 2014. Through the past decade, my mind has been plagued by depression and anxiety, mental “illnesses” which have required grit and dedication to navigate. Photography was the first step toward the bettering of my mind; nature was the second; and now, as I look toward the future, I ponder what is meant to be next. Do I still consider myself to be a nature photographer? What role does writing play, now that the craft has been reintroduced into my life? Will I recognize myself in the next decade?
I hope you will join me for this hour-long presentation, if only to hear me ramble on about my past and my thoughts on the future. (Hopefully I don’t forget what I want to say and stare blankly at the screen.) After the presentation, I will be hanging around for a 30-minute question-and-answer session, in which I plan to be an open book — at least to the degree in which is appropriate.
You can find more information about the talk, as well as sign up for it, here. I look forward to speaking with you then.