2025 11 02

Rural road in rural Illinois. November, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

This image was made a year ago during one of my Ill Wandering outings, in which I scour the part of Illinois that is not Chicago for images that inspire me. The series has been loosely in the works for a few years now, however, it’s still largely a vague idea forming in my brain and I haven’t shared much of it publically. I bring all this up for a reason. [Preface: things take time] One major takeaway of mine has been that I’m still learning how to make artistic images. The end goal is not commercial photography (which I’m very trained in) or even photojournalism (which I’m also trained in), but images which provoke feeling more than anything. This specific image, I like, but it doesn’t do anything beyond being just okay. It’s a scrap pile image. A miss.

One other thing of note: this image was made just after a deer darted across the road. The deer was a bit too far down road any my reaction time a bit too slow, so he’s lost in the shadows. I feel like this is a perfect analogy for my mental place in the medium while this image was made. I’m still sharpening my senses and improving my skills, even after pushing the button for two decades. Each style of photography requires a different approach; a different mentality. We’ll get there. Maybe.

-Clayton