Traveling was a concept foreign to me as a child of a working class, single mom. While most people traveled 2-4 times a year, I always wasted away my youth in the house. I didn't take my first real vacation until I turned 29 this year. I went to San Fransisco back in April. Aside from being my first real vacation, it was also the very first time I had been out of the Deep South.
The economy, especially the job sector of it, has been horrendous the last few years. Having to always spend money on housing, utilities, food, necessities, etc. instead of my wants has been very taxing. Since my baccalaureate years in a small, rural town in the middle of Alabama, I have always found tranquility and in the outdoors. I prefer the hikes and walks with the scenic views.
As of recent, I have taken up a new hobby: film photography. I purchased a refurbished Polaroid 600 camera back in March. A few months later, I bought a Fujifilm Instax Wide 300. The difference between the exposures of the two cameras is very noticeable, but I love them both equally. In a separate post, I'll talk about the Pros/Cons between each and what I like about them.
Back to the topic at hand.
I have combined my love for outdoors, travels, and film photography and created a series which I call, Travels Through Film. Most of the images I have shot were from day trips around North Carolina and South Carolina. After I move and get my finances realigned, I plan to travel further into new places (places new specifically to me).
First Exposure: Glendale Shoals Preserve and Waterfalls
This was my most recent day trip on 6/28/24. I traveled down to Glendale, South Carolina. It is classified as a census-designated community and is right outside Spartanburg. The 2010 U.S. census listed the population size as 307. The dying town's chief industry was a cotton mill, per Wikipedia. My favorite images to capture in film are dying towns, abandoned towns and infrastructures, and of course, nature.
But why? Most people would find the idea of venturing into possibly dangerous (my experiences have been pleasant) locations to photograph creepy, boring buildings insanity. That's kind of the beauty of it to me. Who knows in a couple of years if these places will still be there. In a way, I documenting their final moments before that time comes. I'm also not the first person to do this.
https://theforgottensouth.com/
I implore everyone who comes across this post to check out the above link. Kelly has been doing this for years. I came across her blog while searching for something on Google.
BriscoePark is another creator that heavily influenced me, although their (unsure of gender) photos have a more haunting aspect to them. I came across their page originally on Twitter then found them on IG.
Our content is pretty much the same at the base level, but how we present them is different. As I stated earlier in the post, Polaroid/Fujifilm are my primary mediums.
This was a flower planter I shot outside the rest area crossing into S.C. Not all that unique, but the flowers were beautiful. This was shot with my Polaroid.
Now that you have scrolled through all the photos, some of you are probably wondering, "How come you didn't crop the photos more?" That's an excellent question. I left them as is because I liked the idea of someone going through an old photo album and showing their guests their pictures viewpoint.
I took pictures of the photos using my iPhone 11 Pro Max, or Max Pro (whatever it's called). Naturally, when you upload iPhone photos to your computer, they come out very big. So, if you need an up close look, just click on the picture!
That's it for this post. I plan to upload my other photos at a later time (I have to work tonight, unfortunately). See you in the next post!
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