In October of 2021, I went on a vacation to Maine with my family. We divided our time evenly between the expansive Baxter State Park, and Acadia National Park. We spent much of the time hiking, exploring, and taking photos.
My favorite photographic moment of the trip was at the magical Seal Cove. The conditions were perfect. Everything was so still and silent. The colors of the boats and buoys were vibrant against the dark blue waters. To be out in nature, taking in the scenery and disconnecting from the routines of daily life, this is what vacation is all about to me.
After we returned home, I uploaded the photos to my computer, but it was several months before I got around to editing them. When I finally began editing them, I realized the power that photographs have to preserve memories and emotions. Although they are inanimate still-frames, they feel like living and breathing moments of time.
Staring at a photo I took along the coast of Acadia, I heard the crashing waves. I could smell the ocean air. The memory lives within the photograph. But also, the photograph lives within the memory.
-Dustin