Getting Lost in Old Salem

“That frame of mind that you need to make fine pictures of a very wonderful subject, you cannot do it by not being lost yourself.”
― Dorothea Lange

After leaving the Dorothea Lange exhibit and saying goodbye to my friends who experienced it with me, I drove to Old Salem Museum and Gardens.  Old Salem was within five miles of the Reynolda House Museum of American Art where I had seen the exhibit.  It just made sense to go to Old Salem before starting my two-hour drive back home.

I love the quote above by Dorothea.  Although I thoroughly enjoy every minute I spend with friends, I find that I can only truly 

get lost in my creative mind photographing when I am by myself.  I am sure most photographers enjoy spending time alone.  Time spent seeing with and through the camera is the time that I really see things in my environment.

I felt so peaceful as I wandered the streets of Old Salem.  The off and on rainy weather kept other visitors to a minimum.

As with all of my photography, I am always drawn by the small details of a location.

At one point, I walked into the cemetery at Old Salem.  I usually don’t get any kind of feeling while in a cemetery, but this one felt so incredibly peaceful.

As I made my way back through town towards my car, musicians were playing festive Christmas music.

The lights were beginning to come on to illuminate the windows.

One of the last stops of my visit was in a gift shop.  There I saw a gentleman making small Moravian Stars.  When my family lived in Winston-Salem for a brief period of time when I was a kid, we had a large Moravian Star that we would display during Christmastime.  I was amazed at the intricate work that was involved in making one of these small stars.  He was kind enough to talk to me about his process to make one star.

Each pile was a step towards making one star.  He told me he made thousands of these in a year.

I thoroughly enjoyed my peaceful afternoon getting “lost” in Old Salem.  The next time you are in Winston-Salem, I highly recommend that you take the time to walk these streets into the past.