Freedom in a Can: Adventures with Hamlet

I am not sure when I “became” a photographer, but I think I have my parents to thank for it.  Just a month before I went to Hawai’i with my gymnastics team, they gave me my very first Kodak 110 Instamatic camera for my 10 th  birthday.  Somewhere along the line, I went from a very casual photographer to a wedding photographer’s assistant in college to wanting to spend nearly every day with my camera in my hand.  I do not have any formal training, just tips here and there from friends and fellow photographers….and a lot of experimentation.  In 2012, my husband and I sold almost all our personal belongings and hit the road in a restored vintage camper to travel North America.  I invested in a DSLR and some additional lenses so that I could document our journey.  Before I knew it, we were chasing autumn, getting up before dawn to catch the first glimpse of light, buying a dry box to take the camera kayaking, staying much after sun down to get...

“So, what’s your end game?” my brother asks from the passenger seat in our small truck as we pull away from the Dane County, Wisconsin dump.   I know what he’s getting at, he wants to know how long we plan on living our nomadic lifestyle.  It’s a simple question and within it he’s wrapped his love, curiosity and perhaps his concern about our future.  His question is for me, but it is also very much about him.  We’re working on transforming his yard into a better habitat for his kids, and hauling away an old concrete patio, one broken up piece, and trailer after trailer-full at a time.  He’s got a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old, a wife who has just begun a new career, and a lovely house into which the two of them have  poured their blood, sweat and Lowe’s rewards card. They are planning for the future just as we’re improving his lawn.  I’m not quite sure how to answer him.  Do any of us know how to answer this one? My reply is for h...