Finding Freedom in the Parting of the WaysMain MenuThe Parting of the WaysIntroductionPaths by Julie ShaferJulie Shafer essayDiverging Paths Audio GalleryDenise Johnson Interviews Julie Shafer Pt. 1Works CitedInformation pageBiographiesInformation pageGratitudeAcknowledgementsDenise M. Johnson4ac969f411f8ab69a8061d019e5b50c846dc43d8
Julie Shafer, Untitled (Overlook with Rocks), 2018
1media/julieshaferuntitledoverlookwithrocks_thumb.jpg2020-05-09T21:57:15+00:00Denise M. Johnson4ac969f411f8ab69a8061d019e5b50c846dc43d83371Photoplain2020-05-09T21:57:15+00:00Denise M. Johnson4ac969f411f8ab69a8061d019e5b50c846dc43d8
"I think it was like…yeah there was something definitely intriguing about this fork in the path, because the location of the parting of the ways is in some of the remote terrain that I’ve ever been in, and you can definitely tell that from the picture. And so, thinking that there’s an option, or that there’s somehow a better route than another when standing at that fork, I initially just found it kind of comical because option A and B seem pretty equal to me. Just cause there was nothing as far as the eye could see in either direction. And so, I started just thinking about that idea, at that part in the journey, these emigrants had been walking for, I don’t know, about a thousand miles, and that you come across this fork, and as far as you can tell both directions, you know, look equal. Of course, I’m flat out wrong, and my initial impression is really inaccurate, as I discovered. But, I think my initial attraction was just sort of like both of those options look equally challenging. So, the idea of a fork in the road in the middle of something already so extreme, and already so harsh, I found to be absurd, and kind of comical." - Julie Shafer May 5, 2020
