Beginnings

All photos by Emily Shur

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently began a personal project in Linden, New Jersey. I was unsure about sharing these images on my blog as the project has just begun, and I honestly don’t have a 100% clear idea of where it will end up. I decided to post some of the images that I liked from that trip…not really sure why, but I thought I’d just share them. I will be photographing more there this summer, so I’ll see where that takes the images and the project.

Linden is a small city near Elizabeth where my parents grew up, and where my grandparents and a lot of my family spent the better part of their lives. When I lived in New York, I would take the train there at least once a month to see my grandparents and my aunts and uncles. I have since lost all four of my grandparents and moved to Los Angeles. I thought it would be interesting to go back to Linden and photograph a place where I once spent so much time (and took a lot of pictures) and now spend none. I wanted to see how or if that absence would change my perspective. There were some pictures I knew I wanted to take. Those are the places that are more personal to me – both of my grandparents’ houses, the train station, a park I spent time in, etc. Then I figured I would just wander and roam and see what else I found, as that is my favorite way to photograph in any given situation. Here are five images I took while wandering. They include a clothing store (Mandee), a cemetery, a Shop Rite parking lot, a school, and a chemical plant – in that order. I’m going to save the more personal images for when I have a larger, more cohesive body of work. I think they will make more sense to the viewer then and have greater meaning in that context.

Also, I just wanted to mention that my parents put their (and my) sweet dog to sleep this week, after a difficult few months of her being in not so great health. Zoe lived a long and happy life. It was just that time for her where nature took over and she was no longer able to be her playful self. I don’t think I need to go into my love of dogs yet again…I’m sure it’s pretty obvious at this point that I think doggies are the best thing ever. I really feel for my Mom and Dad. I know they are missing Zoe a lot.