Legacy Continued

“Wisteria and red-buds had followed, and then in mid-March the azaleas burst forth in gigantic pillows of white, red, and vermilion. White dogwood blossoms floated like clouds of confectioner’s sugar above the azaleas. “

― John Berendt

My Legacy project began in my mind almost two years ago. There were halfhearted attempts along the way,

but the project started taking form last summer while I visited Grandfather Mountain. You can read about The Legacy project here if you haven’t already read about it.

I have been creating photography series and projects for longer than a decade. Project work is more fulfilling to me than working on single images. Once started, each project takes on a life of its own, as was certainly the case with the Legacy project. Each photograph contains a special meaning. Sometimes, this meaning may come across to the viewer, but I will only completely understand many layers within the photographs.

I begin working on each project quietly, without sharing the work with others. I do not want to be influenced by how the images are received before I find my way with the project. Once work has begun, the project guides me on what to photograph, when I should release the work, and how to finalize a project.

I recently felt that it was time to begin sharing the work. Today I realized a timeline was silently nudging me to release these photographs. This week, two years ago, was the last week I was able to spend time with my mother before her passing. I have had this in the back of my mind in the past week or so, but it came to the forefront today as I took my morning walk. On that walk, I passed a beautiful dogwood tree. The dogwood tree in Mom’s yard brought me comfort during that final week.

I am so grateful for how photography helped me on my journey with anticipatory grief during my mother’s long illness and again while processing my grief after her passing with this project.

Below you will find portions of the finished images. Please visit the gallery for this project here to see the full-sized images. Although I am not completely finished with Legacy, these will be the images I share from the project for now. I am grateful to those of you who have followed along for the past month.

Each project that I have completed is an extended self-portrait.  Sometimes, I am not even sure of a project’s meaning until years after its completion.

One of my favorite course offerings is a workshop about creating personal projects.  I will be offering this four-session online course again in October.  I hope you will consider joining me to learn about the joy of creating personal photography projects.  Projects can be created to celebrate, embrace, and interpret life and all of its rich complexities.

You can find out more information about this workshop, including testimonials from participants who have taken the workshop here.