The Feast of St. Hubert (Part 1)

I am not a hunter. Its not that I take issue with it but I am not that interested in general. However, when a friend of mine suggested I accompany him on a hunting trip 8 years ago I was in a strange sea of work, parenting, and aimlessness in my art work. So, I said yes. These images are from the almost annual trips we have taken. The time away from home, the solitude, and the connection to nature has become an incredible source of renewal for me. These images are at once a diary of my time away and my attempt to reflect upon my own life so far from home.

And then we realize that the ads for outdoor goods that made us buy the outdoor goods were real after all and the gear didn't make us experts.

I can’t say what he’s thinking but I am pretty sure it has something to do with all the women he has slept with over the years played back in moments and slivers where he did the right thing and all was well.

Imagining the headline and realizing how stupid we are to leave our lives and wives and children and risk death as we venture further and further away from commercial aviation.

My uncle gave me advice on how to make a good picture. He told me to find a barn in the snow. This is better. But, he is still mostly right.

I see foxes on the roads at home all the time. So much so that I think they might be my cosmically connected to me. Then again I see ticks all the time too so I might need to rethink my criteria.

We show up in the latest camouflage and gore-tex outfits proudly worn through the airport, on the sea plane, and into the hunting lodge. In the morning when it’s time to go, the guides (the real hunters) are just wearing sweatpants.

Pretty unsure what it all means but it was even more beautiful than this. In fact it took my breath away.

Gratuitous landscape shot while I was worried about making important work and trying not to rock the boat.

The weather got bad and a plane was out of service and the horses were starving so we rode them out. This one took a bad fall backwards into the river. It was like watching your parent fall. It wasn’t graceful. It was awkward, painful, and clearly serious.

What’s great about this picture is that it is of the ground, which is unexpected. You can show it on the wall or you can be cleaver and show it on the ground. It is really flexible. That is only one of the reasons it is a great value.

I think about the fight I would have with my wife if only we could get the sat phone to work.