Parts of the Whole
By Wes Toole
14 May 2008
I have lived in the Northern Virginia area for the past few years. During that time I have visited historic towns such as Fredericksburg and Occoquan several times, both of which have a very real colonial feel. Fredericksburg was integral during both the American Revolution and the Civil War, while Occoquan a major shipping route during the infancy of our nation. Both towns have a story to tell and I have always wanted to capture that story on film.
As I revisited these sites I did so with the intention of capturing the essence of what it felt like to be there...to walk the streets, to be surrounded by history. What I found was that the story of towns such as these can often be told not by taking sweeping panoramic shots, but by paying attention to the details. There are so many interesting facets to a town such as Fredericksburg or Occoquan that trying to take it all in thru the lens is sometimes like trying to drink from a fire hose. So instead of looking for the "stock photo" image of what an old colonial town should look like, I concentrated on the parts that make up the whole.
In Fredericksburg I found deep reds and striking contrasts between doors and walls. I found texture in bricks that looked as if they had been painted over one hundred times. Hiding what?? That's part of the story.
In Occoquan I discovered a resemblance to the Bavarian type village I have seen in Germany and Austria. The deep rich wood beams, more muted colors, and a splash of richly painted walls that again made me wonder what events had unfolded right before their eyes.
I left each town anxious to get back to my computer and to see what had been captured. Had my images truly captured the essence of what I have seen and experienced? Was I able to adequately tell the story for each town without looking at it from a broader perspective? What I found was that sometimes...the parts do make up the whole.
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