Amid the windblown woods

Visible chaos
London, ON
February 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I almost didn’t take this walk, or this photo.

Light snow was already falling from the slate grey skies when I first set out, and the forecast wasn’t promising. Sure enough, it didn’t take long for the snow to intensify and the winds to pick up, eventually to the point that even seeing nearby trees was a challenge.

I considered turning back. If I could see anything at all through the viewfinder, it looked relentlessly monochromatic, almost devoid of detail. The air was flecked with swarms of fast-moving flakes, and I kept having to brush the accumulating snow off the camera’s controls. Trees and branches swayed wildly in the wind as the late afternoon light continued to fade under thickening clouds and a setting sun. The photographic math wasn’t working in my favour.

Yet I still stayed out. I kept seeing scenes in my mind’s eye, even if I knew I stood little chance of actually capturing them in pixels. I was curious if I could bring something, anything home. And I rather enjoyed feeling the sting of a gloriously Canadian winter afternoon on my face. I felt alive.

This chaotic photo sums up what this day felt like. Crazy. Wind-whipped. Unpredictably glorious.

Technically, it’s a mess. But that’s kind of the point here. I was standing in the middle of a mess. This is what it looked, and felt, like. Chaos as catharsis. Works for me.

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