This blog has moved

This Web address, blog, forum that I have called home for about two and a half years is now coming to a close.

With the reconstruction of my Web site, came the need to consolidate my blog with the portfolio pages. You can now find my editorial blog and portfolio under one roof at johnpaulhenry.com/site/category/editorial/

E-Commerce is fully functional for the majority of my work in the portfolio galleries, simply click on an image and follow the PhotoShelter instructions.

If you are interested in commercial, wedding or portrait photography, this work can be found through my root domain at johnpaulhenry.com

So please, follow me over to the new address, feel free to comment and provide feedback. Your kind words over the years have been invaluable.

Thank you.

- John

regarding hitchhiking

(the following is an exert from an email correspondence to a good friend directly following this hike)

it took about 48 hours to hitch from salem, mass. to columbus ohio

my first night out i made it to northern connecticut by a few short rides and was eventually picked up by an older woman, very christian, and very nice. gave me an umbrella as she dropped me in the rain at an on ramp. after about 30 minutes of standing there with no luck she pulls back up and offers to take me to a truck stop about 10 minutes south. i spend the night huddled in my sleeping bag on the wet ground behind a hotel, transitioning between sweating profusely in my 20 degree bag that doesn't 'breathe at all, and opening it up and being eaten alive by mosquitos. at five in the morning i decide to head back into the truck stop, just as a turrential downpour starts.

after four hours of waiting for another trucker to take me, some bloke had offered the night before, he doesn't show up so i head out to the gas station exit and start thumbing the corner where truckers take off. i get picked up by this 65 year old trucker with the most pure southern accent, a texas raised bloke who was a hippie to the 10th degree back in the 60s. we're cruising down through lower new york and into pennsylvania. and i'm laughing and snapping photos from the big rig along the way.

several moderate rides later, about an hour or so a piece, i'm in central pennsylvania and a young college/ army rotc kid sees me with my pack at a truck stop and yells out "hey you wanna ride?" so i get in with him and he takes me to this town equivalent of herrin illinois and drops me at about 9 pm on a friday at the local gas station where all the high school kids cruise town and hang out and drink soda.

i'm sitting out front of this gas station with my bags, smoking rollie cigarettes strung out on no sleep with my cardboard sign dictating "west" and my hopes are low as the locals roll in and out of this place buying slurpies and boxes of fags. despite low hope, lack of sleep i'm in real good humor and am resigned to stay up all night sitting there smiling and waiting. before long two high school girls offer to take me to the local denny's near the interstate where maybe some passers by might catch my sight. after a couple minutes i chat up a local kid who looks kinda rock and roll in a half hour he takes me to another truck stop about 30 minutes down the highway. the place is deserted. but i'm in the smokey mountains at this point, the sky is clear, the stars are shining and the air is crisp. i unroll my blanket and bag and snuggle in for 7 hours of the best sleep in my life. interrupted every hour by the sewage pump engine in the shack i'm sleeping next two, toxic fumes seeping out and clogging my nose but i don't care the ground is dry and i'm out of sight and am happy to have a place to sleep.

the next morning i get quick rides back to back to back and my luck is great and i'm on the road to columbus and out of the western virginia type desolate atmosphere and into the midwestern plains. no more steel mills and depressing tones and into the corn fields of my childhood. back in the midwest.

Absence

Sorry for the extended absence. 

After exploring Morocco I arrived in Spain a bit worn. Tired. 

Following a failed attempt to hitchhike through even a small part of Spain, I purchased an overnight ticket to Barcelona (eight hours working for a lift in the southern Spain sun, suck. Maybe next time with far, far, far less baggage.). 

I've been extremely busy thus far, with getting settled, meeting language intercambios, working with my hosts and the whole business side of things. 

Posts will be scarce for a short while longer I have feeling. Processing a lot of stuff mentally and physically. 

Thanks, as always, for looking, sharing your thoughts and your support. 

Hopefully we'll see each other again soon. 

hello from las palmas de gran canaria

I won't be accessing my blog much for the next month. I will be traveling and working in Morocco. 

So I'm saying goodbye. 

If you wish to reach me please e-mail me at johnhenryphoto@gmail.com

Until then,

much love. 

things i am learning

learning spanish is not easy

but when you find yourself talking to a beautiful spanish girl

it's much more easy

traveling can be scary

listen to your body

just relax

i like hitchhiking more than hiking

i prefer villages to camping

i'm ready to live in a city

i spend too much time in front of the computer

being a photographer is unfortunately not all about making pictures

i like the beach more than i thought

i can sit on the beach fully clothed and be perfectly content 

horses are beautiful

knowing a horse is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life

i love cats

i'm still allergic to them

i am more open than i used to be

i am not open as i want to be

i need to smile more

and now i actually remind myself of this

the days preceding a large travel, i still get nervous

and i feel stupid for saying that

it's okay to be dirty

you don't have to wash your hair for six weeks if you don't want

but it's important to be in the sun 

you can cut your own hair

it's super fun

i don't know what it feels like to photograph in black and white

carrying a computer around the world is stupid

i would trade it for a leica in a heartbeat

be brave

for you have done the right thing

the best is yet to come

-------------

like pigeons scattering into the big blue

the residents of finca de jelica are flung back into the world

everyone following the crazy May winds

they blow our hair and ruffle our jackets

pushing us out the door 

and into the dusty streets

new paths

and new choices

be open and accept

what comes your way

thank you to everyone who has touched my life in these past two months

on this island or not

your love has been felt

and i will carry it with me

new shoes

my horse, giolla, getting new shoes Thursday

the smell, like perfume, bordering toxic. 

i say "my" horse with a sense of gratitude and pride. for the past month we have gone from strangers to friends. she is stubborn. an outcast among the other horses. but extremely fast. and strong. and, on a good day... a dream to ride. bursting through unbeaten fields and down rocky slopes with ears up and skies blue. 

i will miss her sweat, the way it permeates through my clothes. her calm stature. her broad

 shoulders. 

i will miss this horse more than i believe i know. 

on May 21 I leave La Palma.. I will spend three days in Gran Canaria having arrived by ferry and waiting for my plane. on May 24 I will land in Marrakech, Morocco and begin a month of travel, new experiences and photography. 

the journey will then take me north through the desert and back into Spain. in Barcelona another volunteer experience awaits me. i must first focus on the present. an increasingly crucial part of my life. such a simple task, yet so often overlooked... to soak up the beauty of every passing minute. a blind disregard for the flowing sands of time. 

may they burn my skin and shred my clothes 

Fiesta y Romería, La Palma

An intense morning of hitching through the northwestern part of the island led me to La Valle de las Cruces. Green forests cover the soil, and are tucked in neatly below blanketed clouds. Occasional bursts of sun keeping everything warm, glossy. 

Romería is a party in the form of a pilgrimage, usually ending at a sanctuary. The Romería de Garafía celebrated more traditional La Palma music, culture and food. 

Drinking, food abound, classical guitars buzzing from every crevice. Smells of roasting meat wafting down the dirt road. Children in yellow dresses chase each other under the hot sun, waiting for the caravan to arrive. 

Everyday life here is so inundated with expats, not necessarily tourists, it was pleasant to escape to a more remote part of the island, to a people catering only to themselves and enjoying family and friends. Playing music not to draw a crowd but because they want to dance, smile. 

nature II

nature

scares me

it breathes

and shudders with me

as we watch the lights

closer

closer

closer