jakemarley11eleven

Thrill of the Chase-I Miss You Gwen

Gwen adored chasing her ball and she lived for the thrill of the chase. She loved that thing and was a pro at dismantling basketballs with her mouth, a skill I ...
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Gwen adored chasing her ball and she lived for the thrill of the chase. She loved that thing and was a pro at dismantling basketballs with her mouth, a skill I could never get the hang of myself. But really, just look at the excitement in those eyes in that sweet moment before she catches it. I absolutely love this photograph for that reason. It's also hard for me to look at this image because Gwenny was my Mom's dog and about a year after my Mom died, a certain family member who will remain nameless took both of my Mother's dogs to the pound without my knowledge or rightful consent (which I would never give, nor should I have). Then this person proceeded to more or less sabotage and take almost every single thing I had. It was a month or two into living in my car when all of my camera gear was stolen. I don't want to make my art some giant pity party though because I know in my heart that one day I'll be able save purchase a new camera set-up-adopt a new dog-capture more still images of dog emotions-dogs pursuing their passions. And most importantly I am so deeply grateful that I got to grow up with this dog and have all of these memories. I mean I'm even grateful that i happened to snap this still at this particular moment. I just pray every day that she's happy wherever her new home is, and that she doesn't worry about me or my Mom too much or get anxious wondering when we're coming back for her.I tried so hard to stop this outcome from happening but sometimes in life you just have to let go if it's for the best and-or you're not given a choice. Even when you're letting go of what you love the most, try to cherish and appreciate that you got a chance to experience whatever love you've lost. This advice I'm trying to give myself as I type this because my eyes are very much the opposite of dry. I try not to dwell and I just hope she's happy and doesn't miss home. At least not as much as I often do. I was going to end on a witty anecdote about Gwen because she truly was a bizarrely hilarious dog, but I can't take writing this any more. If you're still reading thank you for your time, I'm thinking to maybe do more long form descriptions of my photos if there's an interesting story behind them. I'm actually more of a writer than I am a photographer. Though I'm obviously a giant camera nerd; speaking of which here's the nerd stuff. (Shot on a Canon 5D Mark iii with a vintage 50mm Canon FD lens from the 1970s and an adapter.)
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