This week, I relocated to Mitchell (Pop. 120) in Eastern Oregon. I will spend the remaining 5 weeks creating work here before my FMP exhibition in London. It has been my plan to spend an extended period in one of the communities I have been photographing, and I am incredibly grateful to Pat (the town Mayor) and his wife Jallet who are hosting me here. They are accommodating me in a small travel trailer, and when not working on my project, I am assisting them at the church & hostel that they own in the town.

Trailer in Mitchell OR, and the landscape surrounding the town.

I am now 5 days into my stay here. I have already met many residents and I am gaining a much greater understanding of life in this remote town. It has always been my aim to ingrate into the communities I am documenting and I hope that my time here will allow me to better represent Mitchell’s residents through my work. 

In addition to this, I am already noticing the benefits of being here full time as it allows me to capture unique and interesting events as they occur. This past weekend, we experienced ‘heat lightning’. The sky turned pink and purple as I was out photographing a young resident named Letty. The photos from this event are quite striking and I doubt that I would have caught it if I were not living here. 

Letty under a heat lightning Sky. Mitchell, Oregon (Pop. 120)