Getting Lost in Ohio

by Sam Horan

Photography

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I live in Columbus, Ohio, which is in the central part of the state, and the majority of my work is based in a circle around the city of 100 miles or so. I just pick a direction and drive until I’m far away enough from town that I feel gone. I honestly couldn’t begin to name where 99 percent of my images were made. For the Instagram locations I use, they’re often estimated as to where I think I was. If I see something that I think needs to be remembered, I take it. Photography for me is quite literally an escape, and I make it a point to wing it.

For these images the goal was to have no goal. Living in the metropolis that is Columbus, I ofen fnd the need to escape the din of the city and open myself up to the heartland of rural America. When I don’t put expectations on what I am trying to see and therefore capture, the places and things I photograph will often reveal themselves to me. There’s a simplicity in the openness of these places, and when I put myself there, I can allow myself to get lost. This feeling of the unknown forces me to observe and hopefully record what I believe should be recorded. I think photography is a medium that allows a level of selfishness. I can steal these things for a frame or two and that is therapeutic for me. Rootstalk leaf-bug icon marking the end of the article's text.

“There’s a simplicity in the openness of these places [that I photograph], and when I put myself there, I can allow myself to get lost.”
“I just pick a direction and drive until I’m far enough away from town that I feel gone. I honestly couldn’t begin to name where 99 percent of my images were made.”
About Photographer Sam Horan
Portrait image of photographer Sam Horan.
Photo by Henry Sharp-Horan. All other photos by Sam Horan
Sam Horan lives in Columbus, Ohio with his son Henry. He says his son was the reason he began taking pictures. Like most parents, he wanted to document his son’s growth, so he purchased a “real camera” to do just that. Now, hundreds of thousands of photos and nearly 16 years later, that desire hasn’t gone away, but he has expanded his horizons. He got a degree in Digital Photography from Columbus State Community College in 2018 and has continued to learn about what makes an interesting image.