Super Highway 8 Descriptive

The image shows a charming country road composed of grass and dirt along a homemade wooden fence that is rustic and somewhat shabby, though in an aesthetically pleasing way. The road curves invitingly and along either side of the road is a row of trees that appear to have buds on them, not fully bloomed, giving the impression that the photograph captures the springtime. The qualities of the image are so perfect and so hyper-real, they look painted. The country road at times appears too perfect and tranquil, and the colors that permeate the image look so vivid and vibrant, on first glance, they look like elements one applies with the stroke of a brush saturated in very pigmented paint. However, a closer examination and a Google reverse-image search both confirm that the image is a photograph. The image is available for purchase or free download from a host of stock image sites online. As a result of the fact that the image is found on stock photography websites, it is almost impossible to determine who is responsible for taking the photograph. Often times, once a photographer sells an image to stock photography sites, it means that they give up credit or authorship of the image.

However, it is worth noting that the image did appear on a website of photographs of Virginia Country. So one can assume that the photograph depicts a country road somewhere in rural Virginia. This is a very provocative detail about this image, as by anchoring its origin in the state of Virginia, it confirms a certain amount of American history upon the item. Virginia is an original 13 colonies and the place where the first official Thanksgiving took place, and bears some of the more famous battlegrounds of the Civil War. It is a place steeped in history and the very narratives of the developing nation. While one might not be able to articulate such notions just by gazing at the photo, it’s possible that the very photograph radiates the richness of this Americana on a subliminal level. One could argue that by gazing at the photograph, one picks up on the radiating sense of history that is able to communicate wordlessly. Because the image is available on several stock photography websites, means that it emerges on a host of other websites and blogs, with the earliest appearance of this image occurring back in 2009. So one can assume that it has been available on the Internet for almost a decade. The image is the product of a high-resolution digital camera, such as a Canon 5d series or something comparable. The capture of the image likely always revolved around the intent of selling it for stock photography. Images of stock photography such as this one are useful to society because they provide online businesses with useable images as a means of promoting their professions and work. For example, this image comes up as a means of promoting a variety of businesses from counseling to drug rehabilitation centers, to blogs about hiking and nature. With an image such as this one, which shows such a pristine and bucolic representation of nature, it can immediately give the spectator a sense of calm and serenity, as if one is walking through a forest or some other countryside setting.

Hence, it comes as no surprise that other companies and entrepreneurs readily use it to represent more nebulous themes such as hope and healing. For example, the Maine Recovery Centre uses this image as the main picture on the home page of their website. This is a company that focuses on helping individuals build a path to recovery so that they can free themselves from alcohol and drug addiction and the debilitating dependence that these substances can create. Addicts in recovery are essentially trying to chart a new path within their lives, and doing so can be scary and uncertain. This image helps to motivate a notion of how worthwhile this journey is by creating an idea of a life free of this addiction and dependence, and the newness that can be created by such a path. For addicts, this image can evoke a notion of rebirth and renewal: the freshness of spring shown in the photo, the reliable and clear well-worn path of the picture.

In a comparable fashion, this photo is also the main image of the website, Tria Health Behavioral Services, a company which helps people better improve and better understand behavioral health issues. This is a private health provider company that offers help when the habits, actions, stresses, anxieties and concerns of life, one’s biological or physical health start to cause concern. The company provides a path back to wellness and homeostasis for the human organism, so that one can traverse back to a state of balance. Hence, it’s no wonder that this image is often selected for its symbolic representation of the path back to wellness and health. Having health concerns can cause much anxiety for an individual, yet they remain a part of the human experience and the human condition of life on this planet. By harnessing this image of a quiet country road, the behavioral health practice is able to offer the individual a sense of normalcy and calm regardless of their issue of concern. The country path is able to symbolize the path taken to meeting goals of change and transformation, as the human experience on this planet is often about transforming to become better and transforming to shed away the old self. Sometimes this is done alone, or sometimes this occurs with a partner, as is the case the drug and alcohol rehab center and the behavior health practice.

It’s no surprise that both these entities selected this image, as both businesses orbit around the act of charting a new course and a new destiny for the individual. This can be an intimidating process full of unknowns; hence, selecting an image of a path that is surrounded by simple, natural beauty is essential. One of the most intelligent aspects of the angle that the photograph shows is that the perspective is shaped in such a way that one can’t see the ultimate endpoint or destination at the end of the path. One literally has no idea where it leads: this is why it’s such an effective and startling image that resonates so strongly with so many people. It is a fitting and suitable image to describe life and the process of change. So many people can get fixated on the end result when achieving a goal, or the end result in who they will become during the course of life. However, so much about the endpoint or the destination is uncertain and out of the individual’s point of control. This photograph is so effective in that it is able to celebrate the process: it celebrates the journey and shows the beauty within the journey. Life has often been compared to a road trip: something to be celebrated and enjoyed. One should of course pay attention to the ultimate destination, but enjoying the journey and the process is so important as well. This image, as a literal snapshot, celebrates both the process and the progress of time. Time is something that is completely out of the realm of the individual’s control, a notion that can be rather daunting to consider. However, by showing us this slice of the unknown journey with such aesthetic beauty and such sense of serene calm, the lawlessness and uncontrollability of time is celebrated.

This image is also on the homepage of a multitude of creative, educational, and writing websites, as a means of both illustrating the journey and unknown path of self-improvement. This image can also act as a source of inspiration for the creative arts in that it is able to illustrate the art of process and progress. No artist is born creating masterpieces; rather the masterpiece is built upon a mountain of failures and decent work. Many artists don’t even know if they will ever accomplish a masterpiece. Hence, the uncertainty of life and pervade, riddling so much of the human experience with fear. However, this photo denies such fear ensuring that even though one cannot see the destination, it is still a worthwhile journey, riddled with much aesthetic pleasure.
Finally, the irony of labeling this photo “Super Highway 8” actually helps in underscoring the fact that even though it might not look like a super highway of any kind, a road as bucolic, calm, beautiful and unknown might in fact be one of the most powerful super highways for human transformation that exists today. When most people think of “super highway” they think of concrete, sleek, modern, elevated roadways that connect distant parts of the nation. This is just a simple country road. However, there’s no reason why this road can’t be treated as one of the most powerful and transformative roads in America for the way that it resonates with so many, and for the way it silently comments upon the human condition.