3.5 hours outside of Reno, NV, lies the largest collection of publicly managed land in the continental U.S., a landscape comprised of lava beds and alkali flats. For a week in November 2021, these dry lake beds of Black Rock Desert were our playground.
We were a group of commercial filmmakers hired by the city of Reno to shoot a commercial spot. With lights and cameras as our brushes, the desert was our canvas.
I had never field-produced a travel commercial before. In retrospect, this “one-off” job was the best decision I could have made.
I was newly single and desperate for any distraction from my heartbreak. Anything to get me out of my house—which now echoed, every room half empty. I was stuck, and a trip to Nevada seemed as good an excuse as any for a hard reset.
In some ways, it was a perfect distraction. Like when we gathered around the table for a meal. I had just cooked the largest pot of spaghetti on the smallest RV stove top, a feat I still cannot fathom. I gained at least a dozen nicknames at that dinner alone, including but not limited to Steely Dan, McSteamy Dan, and McKenzie Foster-Wallace.
In other ways, it wasn’t a distraction at all…when we were given our vehicle assignments, I found myself driving solo for 4+ hours in a 20ft RV with no Bluetooth, aux, and no signal from the radio. I was alone with my thoughts, the exact thing I was trying to avoid.
We made a pit stop at the Miner’s Club in Gerlach. On the walk back to the car, one of the crew tossed me a CD he had bought from inside. “In the Heat of the Night” by Pat Benatar. It became the soundtrack to my trip. Benatar trilled, “And if it hurts when they mention my name, say you don't know me…” as I cranked the steering wheel, trying to get the RV unstuck from a sandy bank along a narrow one-lane highway. I couldn’t tell you how many times I listened to that album all the way through, but I can tell you I have every lyric of every song memorized.
After the trip, I started working part-time for the company that hired me. I found myself on many more trips, and eventually, I transitioned into a full-time position.
You’ll find a lot of these work trips under my “analog log” tag. I almost never travel without my camera. And these photos act as a good time marker. Through a literal lens, I get to reflect on where I was both literally and in the context of my personal life.
And in reflection, I can’t help but notice the patterns and the cycles at play. Life has a Sisyphean way to it. I took the “one-off” Reno job to break a cycle, and here I am years later on another work trip, trying to distract myself from something. More heartbreak, the grief of a tumultuous world, the fact that my parents aren’t invincible…
No conclusion on the cycles. I’m not sure if we can break them or if they keep coming and going. We’ll have to see on the next work trip I guess.
More pics for your viewing pleasure are below.
xoxo
