Hungry Winter: A Testament of Youth
Van Gogh once wrote that whenever he saw unutterable loneliness, the end of things, God came to mind. I do not share Vincent’s religiosity, but agree that sights of emptiness and abandonment can evoke, if not God, at least awe.
These images were taken in the 1970s. They are witness to change and the destruction of memory, the old being swept away for the promise of a bright future. Within these images, I hope some divinity lingers. I was concerned with finding aesthetic insight in the simple scenes that caught my eye, and the sense of purpose that art gives life.
I was a young man when I took these pictures. Looking back, I have come to believe that when we are young, we are more concerned with the drama of approaching dissipation and eventual annihilation because most young people lunge into life and age in a seemingly endless, rapid series of sharp disruptions. The young are strong and, from a distance, can face down death. Growing older is a slower, more leisurely and nuanced process. It is barely perceivable, only occasionally glimpsed when suddenly looking into the eyes of a haggard stranger in a rearview mirror. And so, the Hungry Winter series has become for me a testament to youth.