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James Best

@fieldnotesbyjames

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stories of the earth on film | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 in van 🇨🇦 | @upnorthzine

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You never know what you may find at the end of a forest service road, shot on 35 mm Kodak Portra 160 and Gold 200 #35mm #kodak #kodakportra160 taken in British Columbia, Canada by @fieldnotesbyjames

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a year ago

perfect morning conditions at emerald lake #35mm
kodak #portra160 | canon ae-1 | dev by @thelabvancouver | self-scanned taken in Emerald Lake - Yoho National Park by @fieldnotesbyjames

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2 years ago

pnw showing off its endless layers #britishcolumbia taken in British Columbia by @fieldnotesbyjames

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3 years ago

back when the grass was a lush green, and dotted with wildflowers before being baked under the searing heat of the summer sun taken in British Columbia by @fieldnotesbyjames

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3 days ago

Reflecting on a summer well spent in some beautiful places with amazing people. My mind is grateful, but my knees need a rest. I hope everyone else managed to spend time where they needed to be! taken in British Columbia by @fieldnotesbyjames

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5 days ago

You pretty much cannot go wrong with a sunrise on the North Shore mountains. This will always be one of my favourite sites to pitch a tent and hang out above the treeline. Shot on @kodak Gold 200 taken in British Columbia by @fieldnotesbyjames

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7 days ago

Lately, I find myself drawn to meadows, streams, openings in the trees, and all the places along the way to a summit more than I am to the summit itself.

When I first started exploring the outdoors, I was drawn to mountaintops. I wanted to reach summits for the sense of achievment, even keeping lists of mountains I “conquered.” There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to reach a summit, but I’ve found myself questioning the language and mentality of it. Parts of outdoor culture feel increasingly focused on FKTs, records, how quickly we can move through a place, or where the best spot for a photograph is. In short, focused on human accomplishment.

Part of what has changed is the realisation that these quieter places bring me mentally closer to the parts of the living world that we often treat as somewhere we don’t really belong, places we should be wary of because of its inhabitants. Taking time to notice birds moving through the trees, insects in the undergrowth, or fungi spread through the forest makes their lives feel less distant and abstract.

I think this reflects something deeper in the way many of us have learned to relate with the living world: as something outside ourselves. Something to enter, conquer, capture, manage, boast, or overcome.

Even many of us who spend our lives outdoors and consider ourselves people who respect the Earth fall into that way of thinking. We talk about “going into nature” as though we have somehow left it in the first place. We see ourselves as separate from the animals, plants, and fungi with which we share the same living world.

When I say “we” here, I am referring to the modern Western society I have grown up within. The English language can reinforce that separation. We refer to non-human living beings as “it,” reducing them to something that sounds more like an object than a neighbour. Once a living being is treated as separate from us and stripped of that sense of kinship, it becomes easier to justify their exploitation for convenience, personal gain, or profit. [Continued on next slide]

Listening to Gisele Martin @gisele_maria_martin of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation speak about the Tla-o-qui-aht central dialec taken in Alberta, Canada by @fieldnotesbyjames

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18 days ago

Had to tick off this bucket list hike this year. A beautifully varied trail through grizzly and moose territory, one of my favourites to date! You’ll have to wait for shots from the top. Shot with Kodak 400, Gold 200 on the Canon EOS 3 taken in Kananaskis, Alberta by @fieldnotesbyjames

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21 days ago

my favourite time to be awake, up on the howe sound crest taken in British Columbia by @fieldnotesbyjames

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2 months ago

Could have easily sat amongst the grass for hours on this hike, if it wasn’t so rainy that is. taken in British Columbia by @fieldnotesbyjames

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2 months ago

from a peaceful evening camping up on the howe sound crest shot on 35 mm @candidocollective 400 taken in British Columbia by @fieldnotesbyjames

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2 months ago

peep the porpoises hanging out in the last frame!
truly an impressive tidal phenomenon at skookumchuk narrows shot with the canon ae-1 with @kodak #gold200 taken in British Columbia by @fieldnotesbyjames

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2 months ago