Photography, Paula Romanowski
Artist's Note: These images follow my recent road trip and move from Miami to Los Angeles following our college graduation. My roommate, a long time friend, and I each drove alone, tailing each other side by side on the highway. We started by meeting a friend in Nashville, then went to Dallas, Albuquerque, Arizona, Las Vegas, and finally made it to Los Angeles. In this week-long drive, I had a little bit too much time to think about the changes happening in my life. It mimicked the changes of the scenery around me with each passing day. From swamps, to plains, to forest filled mountain ranges. Prairies, deserts, canyons, all falling into the beautiful valleys and coastlines of Southern California. Every day was the same; I woke up alongside the rising sun, got in my car that was packed to the brim with every belonging I’ve ever owned, and made it to the nearest gas station that seemed to never change no matter where I was. Then I’d drive for as long as I could until my eyes hurt, or if my bladder couldn’t hold any longer, or until my gas tank was getting a little bit too low for comfort. I’d see different people at each stop, some with accents I’ve never heard before, others with jobs I’ve only ever heard about from television. The week felt static, like the time didn’t match the changes that we were following.Â
I thought a lot about myself in that time I spent in the car. How I was going out to fulfill some fantasy I could’ve only dreamed of when I was fifteen. Sometimes it scared me, and I wondered if I was getting in over my head. Letting go of a version of myself, turning into someone unrecognizable to my family and friends. The Paula that my Polish aunts and uncles remembered, a girl connected to her faith, a kind and shy girl who would never leave home. She was meant to go out and reach for the stars, but not that far.Â
But it wasn’t scary. The trip, no, it wasn’t scary when I started looking at it with my camera. There was nothing scary about the couple I saw on a swing in Nashville, or the lady from the local shelter who sat with us on the lawn in front of the Parthenon and let us pet her dog. There was nothing scary about the gift shops on Route 66, filled with retired couples who rented RVs and made plans to go to all the national parks in the area. There was nothing scary about the places we stayed or the people we met.Â
In a time that can only be characterized through change, it doesn’t hurt to recognize the familiar. It grounds you, calms you back to what you know. Community, tradition, humanity–it can be found wherever you go. A complete 180 of your life isn’t graceful. But you can approach it in the same way that you’d approach any other day. Just like you’d spark a conversation with your grocer at the store. The perspective of kindness and understanding should never leave you, no matter who you become.
Paula Romanowski is a rising multifaceted creative, who works on varying creative projects including photography, film, writing, graphic design, and (amateur) painting. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, she mainly draws influences from her small town childhood and her Polish-American heritage. In her freetime, you can find her laying with her cat, browsing a used bookstore, or going to the nearest forest preserve. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Find her on Instagram @paularom.jpg
Comentarios