NEW YORK, NY.- "I took up photography as a means of companionship, to overcome my tendency of being closed off, while wandering to far-reaching lengths. As an elongated form of self, photography was a means to communicatively engage and not be alone. As it turns out, I was never alone."—Derek Schrock

For nine years, photographer Derek Schrock explored, discovered, and immersed himself with the people and landscapes of six continents. A glimpse at what he saw and learned is presented in this collection of photographs and writings from his experiences.

As with all art, the images and writings in this book are as much about the photographer himself, as they are about the places he saw. Black and white as well as color photographs combine with personal journal excerpts and essays to create a composite view as seen and interpreted and felt by Schrock. The expansiveness of the time period provided the opportunity for growth and reflection and the viewer is witness to part of this.

Career photographer Dan Friend wrote the book's foreword, and he notes this element of discovery of parts of oneself within the process of uncovering the world through the lens of a camera. He writes,

"Some people take this a step further and go beyond the family vacation and children’s photos. They use photography to observe the world around them, and at the same time, observe themselves…The photographer is really learning more about what their likes and dislikes are, what they are enthusiastic about, what grabs their interests and talks to their inner self. It becomes a process of self-discovery."

Schrock also shares an interesting detail about his life that informs how he sees, literally as well as metaphorically. He was diagnosed with glaucoma at a younger age in life, and as a result of living with the threat as well as manifestation of compromised vision, traveling and photographing for Schrock has been an intentional practice of seeing "clearly from the inside out." He contemplates what moves him to compassion and empathy, how do his experiences–visual and otherwise–inform and translate how he perceives and also is within the world?




He writes, "Through travel, I was getting to know a stranger. All it would take would be one focal rotation that clicks from one beacon of light. I received thousands…The story of the iris is really the story of us. The more patterns of iris I saw in others, the more I recognized mine."

This book for him is also a reflection on the ways in which humanity is connected. Global unrest, conflict, and misalignment is often more central to the narrative of media and the state of the world; and yet people all over the world are continuing to hold themselves accountable to themselves, to each other, and to the beauty and profundity of daily life. He shares insights related to this throughout his journals, as well as essay.

"After a performance via translator in the Simbu province in the mountains of Papua New Guinea, I expressed my appreciation for being accepted into their world through eye contact and handshakes. This welcoming was admirable and injected in me a sense of calm. A conversation of peace in one part of the world happens all over the world."

And in another essay excerpt he writes, "Peace has a place. In Japan, presiding over the Children’s Peace Monument are the voices of schoolchildren reciting words about the atomic atrocities in Hiroshima in 1945. Peace, love, hope, and healing during challenging times shape the accompanying paper cranes. Getting close to the folds of others helps me with my own. On Uganda’s most northern edge, lions escaped my sight by day, but by night, one by one, they roared parallel with shooting stars. I slept under them, tucked in truce. I listened."

Photographer:
Derek Schrock is a world traveler and self-taught photographer who picked up the medium as a means of companionship while wandering solo to far reaching lengths. His photography unites cultural representation from around the globe. Pursuing the immediacy of experience is instinctual as the photographic moment becomes biographical in nature of subject and soul.

Contributor:
Dan Friend is a photographer based in West Virginia whose images are used for commercial, editorial, and fine art purposes.

Book Details:

Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9781954119178
128 pages; 51 Photographs
8 x 10 inches

https://daylightbooks.org/products/a-sum-of-one-being-in-focus-from-an-arrangement-of-places-traveled