Many of us may have thought of this, but VSU art professor Dominick Gheesling actually did it:
way down the Suwannee River from Fargo below the swamp all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
All of the preparation that could be done was done. My ever-patient wife had given me permission to fall off the grid for a while. My friend Todd Bertolaet helped me load up all of the gear and took me to Fargo, Georgia where I launched on a twenty-nine day expedition, traveling the length of the Suwannee River, via canoe, to the terminus at the Gulf of Mexico. Photographing the length of this historic, iconic, southern river connected me to life and the earth in a manner that I had been missing for a long time.
I am more convinced than ever that there is an intrinsic need in humans to spend time much closer to our natural state on this planet.
For a more detailed account of the adventure that produced the images visit
See also Jsssica Pope, VSU, 14 March 2014, Gheesling Shares Images of Solitary Suwannee River Adventure in TCC Exhibit,
“Photographing the length of this historic and iconic southern river connected me to life and to the earth in a manner that I had been missing for some time,” he shared. “The photographs are meant to serve as documents of the actual conditions of the Suwannee during the summer of 2013. Beyond that purpose, I hope that they allow the viewer to have some sense of what it is like to exist in the spaces in which they were made or to remember/understand why it is important for humans to spend time in these spaces. I am more convinced that ever that there is an intrinsic need in humans to spend time much closer to our natural state on this planet.”
He has pictures online in several other places, too, such as a flickr set.
-jsq
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