In the Fall of 2017, I participated in a workshop on video storytelling conducted by StoryCenter in Berkeley, California. We were tasked with producing personal narratives in a very short format. Iowa surged as a story I had to tell, but one I did not know I had within me. I recorded my voice only once, as I wanted the story to have a spontaneous quality of self-discovery. For the same reason, I left in place the rough enunciation and the abundant slurring of words throughout the recording. The soundtrack includes a recording of Grinnell College’s President, Raynard S. Kington, delivering a Commencement address, along with a recording of a lion at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, recorded when I visited there with my husband. I also included music from my adopted city of New Orleans, all layered with a video shot with my phone while casually driving on I-80 from Grinnell towards Iowa City one sunny winter day. I pieced together all these random bits and pieces of sounds and images from my past to tell a story about home and belonging.
- video
- essay