Views From The Ground

When traveling abroad for the second time in my life, I was struck by the solitude accompanied by air travel.

Tons of people congregate in one space, only to go their separate ways. All united together in pursuit of an individual journey.

Even those traveling with spouses and loved ones seem to be differentiated from other travelers in this environment.

I think airports qualify as one of those places where the outside world doesn't seem to fully reach you when you're within it. The feeling isn't quite as somber as loneliness, but to me it shares qualities with solitude.

Only recently have I realized that at the same time, there is the counter perspective; one where many individuals who have never met before all come together and embark upon a shared journey from the exact same starting point to the exact same end destination. Whether that's the entire journey or just the beginning of it, for that window of time, all of those people are unified and traveling their shared route as one.

Their lives are forever connected from that single flight, even if only ever then.

I must admit I only considered the first perspective when creating these photographs. I wanted to capture that feeling with these images, but now I think the second viewpoint also applies. I like to think we're all traveling this grand adventure together.