Seclusion: Spring 2011

Tech School: December 2010
Backwater: May 2011

Living in Eau Claire, I mostly kept to myself – even if that meant going on long hikes to get away from everyone. Canon PowerShot digital camera, mid 2011.

A dark photograph of a quiet, curved road at night, illuminated by a single yellow-green streetlight. The pavement glistens in damp green-yellow reflection, and the surrounding trees cast long, eerie shadows across the road, surrounded by dark forests and hills. Digital photograph taken on a Canon PowerShot A1000 IS in northeast Eau Claire, WI, in the Spring of 2011.

A residential street at night, along with a cement or asphalt flat surface where I sit, a young man in a brown jacket and beanie, small in the overall photo, framed by bare tree branches and a greenish sky. My shadow is cast long on the cement. Digital photograph taken on a Canon PowerShot A1000 IS in northeast Eau Claire, WI, in the Spring of 2011.

myself

A closer image of cracked asphalt, illuminated in yellow-green tones from a nearby streetlight. The texture of the road surface is rough, with small leaves scattered across the picture. Digital photograph taken on a Canon PowerShot A1000 IS in northeast Eau Claire, WI, in the Spring of 2011.

Me, Ethan Hulbert, in a green stocking cap, brown jacket, and blue jeans, slightly blurred to imply motion, walking down a residential street, illuminated by one single yellow street lamp in the background. Silhouettes of tall bare trees, homes, the bare road, leaves on the sidewalk, and some ice and snow left on the road surround me. Digital photograph taken on a Canon PowerShot A1000 IS in northeast Eau Claire, WI, in the Spring of 2011.

myself

A daytime photograph of a snow-covered forest, with tall trees stripped of their leaves. Sunlight filters through the bare branches, casting long shadows across the undisturbed snow. In the distance, almost lost and hidden in the visual noise, is a white and brown tent, perfectly camouflaged in the dead center of the photo, nearly completely unseen. Digital photograph taken on a Canon PowerShot A1000 IS in northeast Eau Claire, WI, in the Spring of 2011.

this fucking tent

A nighttime photograph of a forest floor covered in dried leaves and underbrush, illuminated by the warm amber light of my camera flash. Bare tree trunks rise in the distance, while branches on the ground form intricate patterns as they cross. Digital photograph taken on a Canon PowerShot A1000 IS in northeast Eau Claire, WI, in the Spring of 2011. A night (or late dusk) photo of an oak tree with dried leaves still clinging to its branches, illuminated by flash photography, looking strikingly orange against the deep blues and blacks of the sky and forest and distant city lights behind. Digital photograph taken on a Canon PowerShot A1000 IS in northeast Eau Claire, WI, in the Spring of 2011. A daytime picture of a forest, mostly of the forest floor, covered with leaves, with bare tree trucks of various widths in the distance. In the foreground, one peculiar thin tree has twisted around and then back toward the ground, then fallen over, creating a strange and almost unnatural shape. Digital photograph taken on a Canon PowerShot A1000 IS in northeast Eau Claire, WI, in the Spring of 2011. A wooded hillside in the early spring, with fallen birch logs scattered across the forest floor. The trees are bare, their trunks creating vertical lines that contrast with the earthy tones and shadows on the ground. Digital photograph taken on a Canon PowerShot A1000 IS in northeast Eau Claire, WI, in the Spring of 2011.

A beautiful reflective pond in the woods, surrounded by tall birch trees and lots of green and brown low undergrowth. A young woman - Katie Rodgers (or "krod") - stands in the foreground facing the pond, but turning back towards the camera with a bright smile. She wears a bright yellow hoodie and blue sunglasses on her long brown hair. The overall mood is cheerful and serene. Digital photograph taken on a Canon PowerShot A1000 IS in northeast Eau Claire, WI, in the Spring of 2011.

katie r

An animated gif image comprised of a dozen photographs or so, of a young man - myself, Ethan Hulbert - with shaggy brown hair and a beard, wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, crouching on the floor in a shabby brown room, with a wooden closet, small patterned tapestries on the wall, and a bed resting on the brown shag carpet on the floor, with a lot of pillows and a pink and orange psychedelic blanket. The frame stays constant, but I go back and forth between looking at the camera and turning my head to look off to my right. Digital photographs taken on a Canon PowerShot A1000 IS in northeast Eau Claire, WI, in the Spring of 2011.

myself

Eau Claire was a place of quiet solitude, for better or for worse–and often, for worse. It was a stark contrast to the vibrant and messy years I spent at art school in Chicago, surrounded by friends and nightlife, interesting things to do. From a city of 2.7 million to a town of 66 thousand… and they call themselves a city? Long hikes through snow-covered forests and dimly-lit streets were my only real escape. The cold of the winter made the isolation burn even worse.

Wisconsin winters can feel endless. I’m thankful I made the friends I did, like Katie here, to keep me from going completely insane, though no one could stop me from going a little bit insane. And I’ll never forget realizing that tent was in those photos only after I had taken them and gone home. Eau Claire will always be a city of loneliness for me.

Tech School: December 2010
Backwater: May 2011


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