so far…
So Far… is my first book of photographs.
47 images from 17 of the 136 countries, colonies, territories, exclaves & enclaves I’ve already visited.
I’ve included the Preface below and the book can be previewed and purchased in Hardcover form HERE.
The First Edition of So Far… has SOLD OUT!!! I am editing a revised version in vertical format that will cost $36.
Own prints of the images HERE.
I was a traveler long before I was a photographer. I lived in West Germany on an American Army Base until I was 5. I returned to Europe after my freshman year in high school as an exchange student, again during my 3rd year in college, and after graduation for Shakespeare study in London.
Israel was my first adventure beyond Europe, the summer before my last year of Higher Ed. Eight years later, inspired by an earlier Red Sea road trip along the Egyptian Border, I finally made it to the other side of the chain link fence. That experience, more than any other, ignited my passion for travel, despite having been, briefly, kidnapped.
18 months later I was off to Sri Lanka to teach Yoga in a recently tsunami’d southwest surf town while the 25 year Civil War raged in the northeast. 3 years later, the Buddhist government’s successful genocide of the Tamil minority put a tragic end to the lengthy conflict.
Following my 2 month contract I traveled through India, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia for 4 months, earning my Thai Massage Certification along the way.
Upon my return to NYC, I opened a 9 bed guest house in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, so I could write off travel as R & D. Goodpoint incubated Goodyoga, which was, when I retired from brick and mortar, Brooklyn’s Oldest Studio with 9 total locations over 14 years.
During the best times, I was able to travel 18 months out of 24, including a four month overland itinerary from Argentina to Mexico, 6 months traversing a counterclockwise sorta circle around Europe from Malta to Iceland, a month in Castro's Cuba, an overland round trip circumnavigation of Hispaniola from Port Au Prince, a month teaching on the Big Island of Hawaii from which I traveled directly to Rwanda to meet the Gorillas then overland to Tanzania to host a Kilimanjaro summit hike and Zanzibar recovery.
It was during this period that I became a photographer in earnest. Having followed my Instagrammed iPhone Album, my dear friend and notable photographer, Merri Cyr, insisted that I buy her 2007 Canon 5D Mark 2. Most of the photos published here were taken with that camera or the lighter 6D I quickly upgraded to.
Notably, theres a few here from a 2001 early Olympus digital that produced great shots, but most of it's full size files have been misplaced. Archiving was a gargantuan task that produced hundreds of contenders from over 10,000 images. That said, the final selection are from only a handful of places because I simply didn't have the right tool for the job until 2015.
I've traded in my bulky Canon body with her family of 3 prime lenses for a petite, powerful used Fujifilm X100F range finder for my daily street rig. She’s 2” smaller all around than the Canon, with a 4.3 MP advantage. I’m restricted to the 35mm lens, with some wiggle room with a branded Macro and Wide lens, but I’m unlikely to use them. Like Henri Cartier Bresson, I prefer to be confined to a single lens for street work and I appreciate the pretentious excuse to carry less, so I can pack more...
I’m also traveling with 2 Polaroids now: the 680 SLR. Produced in 1982 for just one year, she was the link between the folding SX-70 and the ubiquitous box model that immediately followed, she was the first instant camera with a built in flash and auto focus, and the last SLR Polaroid ever produced until the brand new i2. I reserve the vintage piece for safe studio work, while the younger model walks the streets with me.
Portraits are my passion. Polaroid piques the subject’s curiosity and summons exponentially more volunteers than when I lead with the digital camera. The experience of leaving with an object in hand and the wonder of watching the process, that is, to them, either nostalgic or brand new, overrides the usual inhibitions folks have when sitting for a portrait.The one of a kind, almost painterly prints reflect the warmth generated by our exchange, often unassisted by a shared language,
Armed with those magnificent instruments and little else, I intend to visit every country, colony, territory, exclave and enclave, including the 136 that I’ve already explored, to create a cohesive collection of 330 full size portraits to represent each, and, eventually, every possible ethnicity and culture.
This entails a life of perpetual travel. I live out of my carry on and personal item, stuffed with more gear than clothing. I’ve sold everything I own, except for flat, appreciating artworks and my personal archive.
It’s a monastic existence that I’ll share in detail through all the content platforms, if you’d like to join me virtually. Learn more at www.flanneryfoster.com, where you can purchase your own print of any image that might move you as you flip forward. Thank you for allowing me the time to introduce the people I’ve met on the road. Maybe we’ll meet along the way, as well.
