one of my favorite things about these matchbook stories is the evidence of travel. like a detective in an old noir i feel as if i am putting pieces of a mystery together. where did this come from? how do i get there? what will i find? puzzle pieces from someone else's forgotten past...
when you look back at the pictures i have posted over the past 4 days, you wouldn't know it, but they were all taken in a single day within a block of my work. and this simple fact reminds me of 2 things. first, the idea of photography as expressed by alfred stieglitz when he said "in photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality" in that the brief time i took to step outside and record these images, and then alter them slightly, removing them from their original time and place, they became something more. something i saw and then shared, and thus they have been transformed. secondly, all of this connects to me, and to where i'm at now. stieglitz also marveled at the wonderful simplicity and access to creativity that photography affords us, even today in this digital medium. all any of us need do is step out, and look for these opportunities. they are all around us. and in sharing them, we share little pieces of our selves.
"i have found my subjects within 60 feet of my door"
seven turns a corner, as morning wakes again "time to get up and earn your keep" says the watcher of all men so seven splits the alley and turns to head uptown he moves with quick precision, though the world sees him a clown past civic center, curving market, seven walks his path with ease he moves on by the castro as the flags wave in the breeze he walks now through the mission, and knows he's nearly there then passes 19th avenue, moving without care he breezes through a doorway, and takes his place in line then moves up as the people disperse and then recline at last he's at the counter, the man says "yes, seƱor?" he smiles and holds his hand up "i'll have the number four" the man he nods at seven, and then begins to work and then two minutes later he serves him without irk he slides a warm plate over, across the counter top and seven takes it from him as he pays the man called "pop" and now he finds a table, near the window looks outside and seven is in heaven as he now completes his ride.
Sunday, March 04, 2012
mister blue looks up to gaze at halo's head a- bove his own today
each weekday i rise early in the morning to get ready for work. and some mornings this is more challenging than others, especially as i say goodbye to my bride of 15+ years still snuggled warmly in bed. and then as i go out into the morning chill to meet the day i am steeled by a resolve that i am meeting my duties as a husband and father as i go speeding off to my job. meanwhile life moves along at home at its own pace. and as my wife begins to rise and take care of her own duties, what better accompaniment than this vintage vinyl find? the stirring somerset strings moving the ladies through the cycles of laundering. and as midday thoughts may turn their heads to fancy as they look out their windows and see the warming sunshine, reality snaps them back to responsibility as they flip the record over to side 2.