Hello, my name is Erik Hogan
I am exploring wilderness areas, mainly in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of the United States, as a backpacker and photographer.
I won’t write out my life story here, but I’d like to tell you a bit about who I am. It will become clear why this is important later on.
I grew up in the foothills of Appalachia and spent a huge portion of my youth exploring the outdoors. I've had the opportunity to camp across the United States and Alaska, and Western Canada. I've traveled throughout Europe and have visited the Caribbean, Central America, and even Japan.
My artistic inclination goes back to childhood, but was never something I considered as my main pursuit. In high school, before the arrival of digital images, I took a film photography class. But, when I lost access to the make-shift darkroom in that classroom photography fell to the wayside behind other pursuits.
I earned a Bachelor's Degree in English from The University of Georgia in 1999. However, September 11, 2001 changed my direction entirely. I worked as a paramedic in Atlanta for several years and then transitioned to a career in law enforcement. I still work as a cop today, with lots of experience on the road, as a tactical medic, as a SWAT team leader, and even a stint as a detective.
While recovering from a significant on-duty knee injury I discovered the world of digital photography. After healing, I combined this renewed interest in photography with my enduring love of backpacking and wilderness exploration. My goal became sharing awe inspiring images that convey the profound impact these locations and experiences had on me.
Backpacking and landscape photography are synergistic pursuits. As I become more skilled as a photographer, I am driven to seek more remote locations away from crowds and accessible only on foot. As I become a more accomplished backpacker, I am called to improve my knowledge of photography to meet the demands of the austere conditions I explore. The combination of these two disciplines results in a vastly richer experience than either one alone.
More recently, I have developed a keen interest in philosophy. I have become a student of ancient Greek and Roman Stoicism. However, I balance that with other viewpoints and my own logical conclusions and inclinations. I hash out a lot of these ideas in my writing.
Now, I have a question for you-
Can you separate art from the artist?
Suppose there was someone out there who you thought very highly of and they were passionate about creating artwork. But, you find that work to be mediocre. Would you still support them? Or, we could flip this. What if you were viewing a stunning painting… only to discover that it was painted by Adolf Hitler? He was a painter, after all. Would that change the impact of the artwork? It does for me.
Why does this matter? We might not fully realize this, but I believe humanity is standing on a precipice with the advent of Artificial Intelligence. With a few cues, anyone can now generate stories and essays in only a moment. Throw in a couple of prompts and AI can spit out a hyper-realistic image of the world. This technology is growing exponentially more capable each day.
Soon we will reach a point that we can no longer trust anything that is presented online. Is that landscape real or a computer algorithm? Is that story someone’s experience or a computation of words? It is critical to know the difference because with literature and the arts we share our common humanity. However realistic it appears, AI is NOT human and you cannot fully separate the art from the artist.
What then? How do we move forward? I believe we must find human artists and creators we do trust and support THEM. I’m not trying to say that has to be me in particular, but I am a real human out in the world creating what I think is art out of HUMAN intelligence. I’m searching for what it means to be human in the world we inhabit, and that is something AI can never deliver.
So having said that, I could use some support. Photography is stupidly expensive, and there are many other costs associated with backpacking and travel in general. Anything helps me to improve what I offer you here. These are a few ways you can sponsor me and my work-
Monthly sponsorship through a paid subscription to Field Notes-
A one time contribution for an essay or photo you particularly liked-
Want to work with me for your brand or are you interested in a particular photograph? Let’s talk-
And I am always humbly grateful to all of you who just want to read along and be a part of the experience. Its even helpful to simply spread the word about Field Notes. Share it, forward the emails to people who might like it, or just mention it by word of mouth. Thank you!
