06/30/2026
What does it mean to dream of memories we never had? Creating a reality through an imagination inspired by the world around us? To dream of fulfilling a life long goal? And to dream of something tangible? Something we know to exist but have never seen for ourselves? These are some of the thoughts I had going through my mind when fulfilling a generational life long goal as I traveled out to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. It was a dream my dad shared but he passed in 2018 to early onset Alzheimer’s.
However, while his cognitive ability faded, he still had “The Dream”. Meanwhile, one of those days I was visiting him at our family’s place, I turned on a nature show featuring what we both identified as the “western aesthetic.” I kept it on the show because there wasn’t much else to do. It was during this moment, my dad had a moment of lucidity and pepped up. Then he looked at me. I knew then “The Dream” continued on within him. Unfortunately, it was also at this moment I realized he would never make it. So did he.
In my time out west, I imagined a reality that doesn't exist. A dream never realized with fleeting memories of things that are simultaneously familiar and unrecognizable. Much like visuals can be when we both imagine/think of things while awake, and dream while we sleep. These composition of images reflect a dreamlike quality and how our memories can influence and blur what we experience (or conjure ones that never occurred). The images were created by utilizing multiple exposures within camera. In this essence, the creation of the images is not unlike the dreams and memories we make. I imagine through these images what could have been with my Dad, and what he might have envisioned if he ever visited out west, and what he might have envisioned towards the end in his mental prison.
In the path we walk, we can envision things that are, never were, and what we hope to see. Its in this perspective we can find anguish, or inner peace. As I continue to create more images, a new ethereal world is created where all has been made possible. Because the “The Dream” never died. My dad, and me, are both living it.
P.S. many more
