Ambedo
ambedo n. a kind of melancholic trance in which you become completely absorbed in vivid sensory details— raindrops skittering down a window, tall trees leaning in the wind, clouds of cream swirling in your coffee—which leads to a dawning awareness of the haunting fragility of life, a mood whose only known cure is the vuvuzela.
- John Koenig, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
CONCEPTION
On August 12th, 2021 I began a three week road trip around the west coast of the United States, beginning in South Dakota and ending in Colorado. This endeavor was taken alone. During this period of solitude, I began the Ambedo series. Everywhere I went, the world was incredibly quiet. As time passed, it became less quiet; I noticed the rustling of leaves, the rushing of rivers and roaring of waterfalls. I saw elk, moose, bison, wild sheep and goats.This series is a love letter to wilderness, exploration, and appreciation of quiet beauty.
EVOLUTION
2024-2026When I revisited this series, I was drawn to the softness of moving water. I admired its graceful fluidity, the way a river carves its path through stone over generations. Water is changing our landscape in a way we won't see in our lifetimes- I find something beautiful in that constant. Gradually, my interest expanded to fleeting experiences; storms and fireflies and I found myself looking again for moments frozen in time, impossible to replicate. Instead of a love-letter to the wilds, this felt more like a promise to respect how small we are.To the river-forged canyon, we are the fleeting firefly on a humid night in July.
