Your Neighborhood: Creating a Sense of Place (Creek Ridge County Park, Michigan City)

Artist Statement

This photo essay documents one of my favorite places, Creek Ridge County Park in Michigan City. For someone like me, who enjoys walking trails, this is one of those places that are better off-season than anytime else. Its solemn atmosphere and the nature in hibernation hold real beauty that is otherwise covered underneath heavy foliage - and large masses of visiting people during summer months. From the common area to its belonging nature trail along a serpentine creek, Creek Ridge park tends to completely change mood depending on weather and over-all lighting. Cheerful, saturated colors immerse the trails on a sunny day, while on dreary overcast "off"-days, the surroundings give off an almost haunted quality.

The park is adorned with several areas for playgrounds, dog runs, and my favorite - walking trails. The trails appear in dirt paths, boardwalks and black topped. Community gathering areas and overhangs are provided for families and gatherings, while the walking trails can take you what feels like away from civilization within a matter of a few hundred yards. 

I wanted to document the park, but I concentrated more on the nature trail because that is what is closest to my heart. I attempted to show elements in nature as they are unaffected by people, the moss covered tree stumps and rocks, natural drainages filled with leaves, the low bubbling of the creek, filled with fish, drawing wildlife of all sorts to its edges. My images focus on these things, because this is what creating a sense of place meant to me when doing this assignment. This is Creek Ridge Park to me.

Dan Wolters

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