During my free periods when I was in high school, I would go to the library and read essays and books by the transcendentalist. I continued this in college. I found the writing inspirational. Henry David Thoreau was my favorite. He wrote an essay called Walking, which is the inspiration of this work. It was 1986 and I decided that I would walk from Cooneymus to Old Harbor Point on Block Island. This was not one walk but several over the course of that summer. I continue to often take solo walks in nature. It is good for my spirit.

At that time I was using a 6 x 7 Makina. I had not moved into color film yet. That would be a year or two later. The island has changed in the years since. The fields are full of summer homes. I remember going hours without seeing anyone. That is not likely to happen on a summer day now.

I never fully completed this project. I went on to photograph other things. Once I set up a color darkroom in the late 80s, the idea of printing these black and white photos disappeared. For many years I kept my black and white darkroom dismantled. Then the technology changed and these old negatives became printable. I have returned to several incomplete projects. Thirty-three years later this one called Walking is finally complete.