ROI: Field Notes of a modern professional
Inbound/Outbound is a series of visual notes that explore the modern professional experience through the lens of a commute that evolves over a period of 20 years. It reflects on what it means to me to be a modern professional by documenting the different commutes as an essential, an unpaid, part of every work day and a reminder of the endless game we play and things we must do to “make it”.
I started this project when I began documenting my daily commute as a newly minted member of the workforce way back in the early 2000’s. Starting out in the working world is strange and exciting as a new as a new grad and I used photography as a way to work through my frustration and disappointments with realities of adulthood. Basically I tried to find a way to creatively deal with “the daily grind.”
What eventually took this from a casual experiment to a personal project were two key factors. First, despite all my effort and intention, my career path continued to off road, particuarly in 2008 during “The Great Recession.” Second, I got my first smartphone. This meant that as I was whiling away the hours of my day on transit or seated as a desk in an office job I was able to continue to develop my interest in photography in the periphery of my daily routines snapping away and capturing small moments in my small existence.
This project evolved slowly, tangentially and over a long period of time. When it started out I was working retail and doing a lot of film photography with a polaroid camera and/or a point and shoot. Eventually as I move in different professional directions and earned more money, I expanded my photographic knowledge and technique. I was able to bring in different formats and more skill to the as yet unformed project and switched back and forth between film and digital photography as I felt so inspired. It was only really when I got a smart phone that the idea of taking, or using my iPhone to take, “visual notes” to document my progress or lack thereof started to form.
Editing is crucial in all things. Taking it from thousands to about 100 has been more like writing a personal essay, where just you have to be merciless in your edits and succinct in your word choice to keep it moving. This in itself proved a big challenge not just to create a logical visual narrative but to choose images that would help draw connections within the non-linear narrative.
At this moment in time when as so much continues to change very quickly particularly for those in the workforce. I think it is more important now than ever to think about what we do to earn a living, and how it helps shape our perspective of the world and what means to be “professional”.
It is my hope that by using my own professional journey as a backdrop this project encourages people to reflect on what it means to be a modern professional “making it” and how multifaceted that existence can be.