Mount Shasta

7/12/06

I’m coming to like the fact that this photo is actually pretty generic: probably millions of people have come to this same Official Vista Point, sat on this same indestructible plastic CalTrans bench for a while, watching the clouds drift past the peak without ever somehow managing to leave it behind, and finally pulled out the camera for two snapshots: one of the mountain by itself, one of the whole family sitting in front of it.

I used to feel like my photos ought to be unique, something that nobody else could capture. Either I’ve gotten less pretentious or more lazy, but this is okay now. It feels like a pilgrimage we’re all part of. I want to gather all the millions of photos taken of this mountain from this patch of ground and blend them together. Find some average of the mountain over years and seasons, filled with the faint ghosts of smiling families.

Photo of Mount Shasta