In the span of a couple weeks, I had three separate conversations that were seemingly unrelated and disjointed.

The first person asked where I find inspiration for my photos and the second said they liked how my portfolio was diverse in subject.

A week before this, my father told me I reminded him of George Plimpton, a journalist known for his diverse subject matter. “You just kind of do a lot of different things and have a way of describing them that feels real,” he said, “land sailing, thru hiking, traveling, MMA, working for Congress, comedy, none of which are related but you photograph or write about it in an intriguing way.”

I’m not a huge believer in coincidence and, as Ted Lasso would say, “the thing about coincidences: sometimes they just happen.”

Regardless, they all got me thinking— not just about Ted Lasso although it is a great show and everyone should check it out.

They got me thinking about the root of where my photography/writing/ personality: curiosity.

Now I’ll be the first to tell you, my curiosity gets me in trouble far more often than I’m willing to admit. “Curiosity killed the goat” may be written on my headstone when it’s all over. If my obituary reads anything other than, “Who The Hell Would [insert seemingly dumb activity]” I will be very disappointed in the afterlife.

My curiosity has led to a lot of projects that have fallen through the cracks, a lot of purchased gear that is now collecting dust in the garage, and more than a few dates cancelled because I got distracted flying down some rabbit hole.

It can be frustrating when I think about the “purpose” behind my photos or the point I’m trying to make with the things I shoot. I often find myself asking, “yeah, that’s cool but who cares?”

But to quote Ted Lasso— seriously, check it out… I cannot oversell how great that show is— who was quoting Walt Whitman, “be curious, not judgmental.”

If there’s a quote that better exemplifies the reason my photos look the way they do, or how I pick the subjects I pick, or why I write about the things I write about, I haven’t seen it.

It’s odd, I almost feel embarrassed for being curious, like it’s some sort of defect in my personality that I like so many different things or am interested in unrelated topics. It makes me sound like I don’t have my life figured out yet and am just kind of wandering from one curiosity to the next.

Then again, maybe that’s the point of my work: to show people things that are interesting. It could be that the point of my work is there is no point to it. If it brings you a moment of joy/ surprise/ wonderment/stupefaction, then maybe that’s the only point I need to make.

Keep your feet moving