Kerry Woo, past Gear Diary writer and current street photographer extraordinaire, has just launched his first Kickstarter project — the aptly named “Take the Long Way Home”. His goal is to “document a rich pictorial history of America’s back roads, [and] upload the images online with professional printing and direct mailing to you” while driving cross-country from Seattle to Nashville.
And now, in my words: Kerry is someone who I have never met in person, but over the ten or so years that we have been communicating online, he has become a dear friend. Kerry has always had a quirky eye; he is a man who sees beauty in places that others might not bother to look, and he knows the value of random things and how to make them come together into something special. Kerry is the guy who remembered that I love ELO; he happened to have an original copy of their Out of the Blue LP in storage, and he sent it to me just to brighten my day when I was going through a tough time. That’s Kerry the man. But what about Kerry the photographer?
Photography is the perfect outlet for Kerry’s personality to shine; he believes that “everyone is photogenic! Everyone has a story to tell, and [he loves] pulling that story out simply by taking the time to say hello, engage and focus on their eyes in conversation. The camera lens is just a tool to capture that engagement.”
I love keeping up with the pictures Kerry takes in and around Nashville via his Facebook page, and I can’t wait to see what he will capture as he takes his time on his cross-country trip. He has planned a route that will take him through “Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, deep in the heart of Texas (clap*clap*clap*clap), Oklahoma, Arkansas and finally home to Tennessee.” I should mention that his stop ‘deep in the heart of Texas’ will be to stay at the ranch with Kev and me for a couple of days; we are finally going to meet after all this time.
I can’t wait.
You can keep up with Kerry via his Facebook page and his blog on the Kerry Woo Photography site.
If you’d like to contribute to Kerry’s “Take the Long Way Home” campaign, there are various levels you can join in at — all of them include products featuring photographs taken on Kerry’s amazing journey.