Contrast

When talking to people who drive cross country, you might find that they don't particularly fancy the stretch between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. This being the drive that goes through states like Nebraska, Iowa, and the Dakota's. People often describe it as boring, or, as my own father has described it as a "brutal drive". Now its true, once you enter a state like South Dakota it is quite flat and there aren't many sights to see along that stretch of I-90, but to a considerable city boy like me, that vast plain that continued into the horizon was the opposite of boring. 

The difference between the states of South Dakota and Wisconsin are almost night and day. Wisconsin being hilly and green with pretty decently sized towns and cities plotted along the freeway every 25-30 miles or so, South Dakota on the other hand is an entirely different place. From the moment you enter the state (even if it is 4:30am and the sun hasn't come up yet) you can tell there is something different about this place, the way the night sky looks, the glimmer of taillights from miles in the distance that never disappear around a bend or over a hill. If the difference wasn't apparent enough in the dark of the night, just wait till you can see the sun coming up over the horizon. The natural land masses becoming visible and the sheer vastness of the plain you are now crossing becoming visible to you. It was something I had seen in photographs but never thought I would actually be able to experience. 

In this, my first project on Bēhance my goal is to try to give the viewer the opportunity to share in my experience and hopefully be inspired enough to venture to places like the Badlands and the Black hills. I want you feel what its like to be absolutely blown away by the beauty of nature. A trip like that can change who you are and bring out parts of you you didn't know were there... Which is well worth the drive...