Every so often I sit down at the computer and start wandering back through old photos. I used to do this when I was in grade school. In fact, I used to do it in high school, and college too. The old memories return, flooding my mind with emotion and seemingly lost events. I find it refreshing to reflect on those times, trying to remember old friends, certain moments…trying to recall even the smells at the time. With the advent of digital photography the ability to dig out those old photos is endless. Years and years of images, stored on hard drive after hard drive provide literally hundreds of thousands of events to recall.
Most recently I found my self plunging back through a week I spent at the Marine Recruit Depot (MCRD) in SanDiego California. For an entire week I was part of a group that was granted an insider’s view of the recruiting process and basic training. Each year the Marines ask various groups to visit the depots with the intent of dispelling any myths the general public might have about this particular branch of our military. During the week, I was exposed to some of the basic training techniques the Marines use, shown around the entire base including a great trip to Miramar (famed TopGun School) and shown what life is like for recruits as they proceed through the grueling steps of basic training.
As I said before, letting my eyes pour over older photos always brings back memories but it also allows me to have a fresh perspective on the shots I took. I find that with some images, I am much more critical and don’t like the composition or processing. But with others, a new appreciation comes from a second glance. Looking at photos after an extended time away freshens the eye and removes some of the emotional attachment that once may have lingered. This “fresh” look drives a new creativity and re-energizes the need to create distinctive images.
The series below is the second kind of image. At first glance I wasn’t crazy about them. Today, they capture the hard work, the exhaustion and the sleep-derpived blur these soldiers must have endured. This is the final day or their basic training. Today, they will be called Marines for the first time. They are no longer recruits. For the last three days they have been functioning on 2-4 hours of sleep coupled with endless physical, mental and tactical challenges. These shots were taken just as they hiked back into base from running the Gauntlet.