Red Bank Microcosm

One of the reasons I enjoy making photos at Red Bank is that this 1.5-acre plot of land on Hoover Reservoir is an amalgam of the scenes I see every day in my travels in greater Westerville.

The variety of people who visit is always different. They range from solo travelers who walk to the water’s edge for meditation against the quiet waters of the lake or during the throes of a rainstorm to groups celebrating their home country’s birthday, sharing their bounty with a traveling photographer.

There’s the pastor and his wife who sit in their car as she reads Bible verses. The lonely man who sits in a lawn chair by his well-used van—nearly a camper—several times a week, though less so in winter. Anglers in quiet solitude and those with music from county to blues to rap. Children herded by their parents and children freed to roam to the water’s edge. Picnickers in sun and shade, on blankets or at the concrete tables or inside the pavilion. Sometimes off the tailgate of a pickup truck. Sometimes in the front seat with the windows up and the air conditioner running. Kids throw rocks for the splashes and ripples. Parents throw rocks with instructions on how to make them skip. Anglers guide their boats near shore and into the narrow inlet hoping that’s where the fish are hiding.

No matter the weather or season, photographs appear at my feet or along the horizon, and every step in between lets me utilize all my lenses and filters, my tripods and gimbals. Still, windless days offer one set of photos. Rain, snow, strong winds, and storms have their unique features, especially when people are involved.

Red Bank is one of those places where even when it seems calm, idle, and uninvolved, it calls to get out of the car and participate. Participate in meditative solitude that lays the foundation for building on the experiences in a 1.5-acre space that expresses the microcosm of community and the people who enjoy it.

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