Living off the grid and in the shot with Alex Armitage
Alex Armitage hits the road with a camera and a goal: bring back the most awe-inspiring pictures of North America’s tucked-away treasures. The stunning results are on display at the City Hall gallery through Sept. 21.
Nature’s photogenic nature
For most of us who live a 9-to-5 life dictated by meetings and agendas, the call of the wild comes in short, sporadic spurts. We take nature walks on long weekends or on a random, chilly fall day, only enjoyable outside. Often, life moves so fast that we do not make time to connect with the extraordinary nature we are so blessed to inhabit.
Photographer Alex Armitage chooses an alternate road.
Armitage has been living in his SUV for over two years, exploring North America, from Alaska to Florida, one camera click at a time. Armitage admits that landscape photography started as an escape from the chaos of daily life. Still, it ultimately led him to discoveries about the world and himself that he would have never known.
“There’s nothing more therapeutic than watching the sun come up to show off the beauty of the world, all while providing the challenge to me, the photographer, to capture it,” says Armitage. As a photographer, he feels privileged to walk in some of the most majestic spots in our nation and share them with his audience. “I love finding what the world has to offer in all its natural beauty, and in those brief moments, I’m reminded that no matter how much turmoil might exist around me, there's still beauty all around us.”
Although Armitage has always felt a connection to nature, camping frequently with his family and the Cub Scouts, his relationship with the camera is more recent. In 2007, when traveling west with his aunt on their yearly trip outdoors, he was handed a camera by his adventuring kin and asked to “try and figure it out.”
Armitage took to the challenge easily, read the camera manual, and took pictures. The experience planted a seed. By 2009, he bought a Canon 50D and took “bad pictures” of everything from the ducks in Lake Ella to his grandmother’s garden in bloom.
He honed his craft by shooting moments of the live music scene in Tallahassee and has recently shifted his priority from photographing people to photographing nature. This shift allowed him to discover his unique view of nature, seeking moments of grand majesty that evoke peacefulness and tranquility.
Capturing the perfect conditions
Armitage returns to the basics when asked what elements make up the perfect photo. He discusses the importance of spectacular lighting, the balance of color and tone, precise compositions, and the element of surprise. Still, Armitage reminds us that we cannot control nature, for Mother Nature will decide when the conditions are right. The rest is up to luck.
“I recently spent a month photographing Acadia National Park. The majority of the photos I captured there feel dull, moody, and not very grandiose,” shared Armitage. “One day, a storm rolled through, and the images I captured for sunset and sunrise [felt] larger than large, all within the same setting and location as the previous images. The combination of diffused summer light, rhythmic crashing turquoise waves, and atmospheric fog with just the right consistency completely elevated a scene from mundane to majestic.”
Preparation and dedication are needed to catch the images that Armitage does. His on-the-road lifestyle lends itself to spontaneous explorations where the spot chooses him. His open artistic eye leads the way to locations with endless photographic potential. There, he captures what he sees, amplifies the fantasy of it all with editing, and ultimately delivers breathtaking images of hidden locations throughout the United States.
Instilling adventure
The past two years have taken what began as a therapeutic escape and turned it into a promising photography profession for Armitage. “It’s driven many of my own personal journeys and expanded my life in ways that would have never happened had I simply just gotten a job with my degree, for example,” says Armitage.
Though it comes with challenges, Armitage is grateful for the purity the art of photography has provided him. He feels changed and relishes waking up for sunrises and experiencing the world's beauty.
This evolution is evident in his most recent show with fellow photographer Wright Dobbs, on display at the Tallahassee City Hall Art Gallery. The show offers audiences the chance to find their own adventure in the photographs and the inspiration nature provides.
If you go
What: Wright Dobbs & Alex Armitage Exhibition
When: Through Sept. 21
Where: City Hall Art Gallery, 300 South Adams St. | Online at tallahasseearts.org
Cost: Free
Contact: info@tallahasseearts.org | 850-224-2500 x6
Dr. Christy Rodriguez de Conte is the feature writer for the Council on Culture & Arts (COCA). COCA is the capital area’s umbrella agency for arts and culture (www.tallahasseearts.org).
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Photographer Alex Armitage lives off the grid to get the shot
