p2-v

Air Base by Christopher Myers

What many of you don't know is that one of my many jobs when I'm not shooting is working on contract with the US Forestry, loading planes with the retardant that stops wildfires. It's hot, loud, sticky and I enjoy it. For the most part it's just dumb physical labor but sometimes that's good to have. As a visual artist I spend more time then I should lost in concepts, puzzles, and ideas. Having that physicality brings me back to the here and now. Even Leonardo da Vinci knew the importance of being in shape physically and was renown as being one of the most able bodied men in the land. Artists, don't neglect your bodies.

There's also an added nostalgia being around the airplanes many of which are modified World War II submarine hunters. These pictures feature a P2-V which was used for that in particular. Watching them taxi across the runway, I can only imagine what they were like as weapons of war and how they were a sign of hope for some, and brought terror for others. There's a palpable melancholy and grace that surrounds them leaving you in awe. On the other hand, we have a modified DC-10 that lacks that majestic feeling of the P2-Vs. It has no history behind it, other then being a massive commercial jet. Hopefully I can grab a few pictures of it once it's stationed at our base.

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