First Friday Artist April Sachs

April Sachs is an accidental artist. She currently teaches at Eastern Mennonite School in Harrisonburg, and has also worn the hats of linguist, bookkeeper, office manager, and library assistant. She enjoys writing poetry, gardening, reading, and dancing at sunrise.

 

 

In late 2021, in the midst of life-changing events, I decided to photograph a constant: the sunrise. The result is 366 sunrise photos, all taken in exactly the same spot. But they are far from identical. The images portray the same scene in many moods, reflecting the changing seasons, weather, and position of the sun (from equinox to solstice and back again).

These photos, each similar and yet unique, echo my own experiences during that year. Sometimes I felt as bleak as the cloudy February mornings, when for days at a time I had to guess at the moment of sunrise, since the sun itself could not be seen. Other days were as joyful as the mist-filled mornings of June, with a mockingbird in the adjacent pasture, singing, flying, and falling with pure delight in life. But whether my own internal weather was bleak or joyful, I knew I had foundations as constant as the sunrise. This was my year of rising.