The sign says “Death Valley”… I’m close. 3 Hours of driving constantly looking at the GPS, and now I’m almost there. This isn’t going to be easy, I still need to find a dead tree in the middle of the desert.
I was 14 years old when U2 released “The Joshua Tree”. My dad took me to Sam the Record man in downtown Toronto to buy records. It was one thing that we did when I had the chance to visit him. Whenever I would go to Toronto, I would think of the record that I would want to buy when I was with him. It was a silly ritual, but it was something I could count on.
Entering the store that day, I knew that the record that I wanted that weekend was “The Joshua Tree” We bought the 12″ vinyl and the cassette, so I could listen to it on the bus ride from Toronto to London. Listening to it for the first time, I was blown away on how this had never sounded like anything I’ve heard before. It wasn’t over produced 80′s pop, it was…. different. I would listen to the album over and over again and pick out every nuance of each instrument, every drum hit, the crafted melodies that the Edge would play on guitar against the intense vocals.
While my passion for creating music had run dry, I still felt the need to create. This is where film and photography entered my life at the right time.
I could see the rock formations first as I walked closer to the tree. I was here.
One would never think that sitting at a dead tree in the middle of the desert would have an effect on anybody, but it was outstanding. I was at the spot where I would stare at the pictures of it, knowing that I had to be an artist.
Overwhelming doesn’t even begin to describe how it felt. I looked at the tree, and opened the container that held books for people to sign and gifts that people have left behind. I saw a jar of sand from Russia, copies of the Joshua tree from around the world and a stock pile of letters of love to the band.
I sat down to take it all in. This was a dream of mine since I was 14 years old, and now I’m here. Life can be crazy.
I listened to the Joshua Tree in it’s entirety while walking around the site. The sun was beating down on me but I didn’t care. I would deal with a sunburn. Listening to the album was surreal and inspiring. I’m really gonna savour this. At that moment I so desperately wanted to speak my children, just to hear their voices and tell them I loved them. Sadly, it was afternoon and they were still in school. I looked at their pictures on my phone, missing them to death, I wanted to see their faces.
Being alone in the desert is surreal, it’s total isolation. I was here and all of the other noise in the world was turned down.
As each song rolled by, the experience was one of the most incredible of my life. I was in a stasis of amazement, inspired beyond belief.
4 years ago when I first picked up a camera, i would have never thought that I would be as privileged as I have been as of late. Life has been crazy.
I wrote a letter to my children, and placed it under a rock. My emotions poured out onto paper meant for them as they were both all that I could think about. Hopefully one day they will have a chance to read it….
After over an hour under the blazing sun, i packed everything up and said goodbye. I took souvenir for myself, I piece of bark from the tree, a rock from the site and some sand. Whenever i may get discouraged or frustrated by things not going right, I will look at these items and remember how I felt when I was there.
No matter how derailed life can get, it’s amazing to know that every once in a while the universe will reward you.
