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Passing Through Still-Flourishing Small Towns
Continue ReadingOut-of-the-way settlements — found in forests and deserts, mountains and agrarian zones — naturally exist beyond interstate highways. In their locations they lack brisk commerce. An above-average number of residents depend on government for income. Driving through some of these towns creates melancholy — the places are so forlorn and drab. Our two photographs provide […]
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An Inhabitant of Cairo Streets
Continue ReadingI took our photograph through the windshield of a taxi on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. Our subject is well-groomed considering he spends much of his life cleaning streets with primitive equipment. Off the boulevards he no doubt lives in cramped, poorly-maintained housing, lacking private amenities. In spite of this he has trimmed his beard, […]
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After the Inferno
Continue ReadingIn late summer 2020, bolts of lightning struck near Cima Dome, a rocky promontory in the Mojave Desert. The strikes ignited both woodland and ground cover; by noon the next day 16,000 acres had burned; among the casualties: grasses, shrubs, trees and cacti all scorched and left for dead in the fire’s wake. The speedy […]
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Survivor On A Salt Lake Sidewalk
Continue ReadingI saw our lady approaching a long way off — ambling in fits and starts down an incline toward me. I noticed surrounding pedestrians in the distance snap their heads toward her, as if reacting to a loud noise; just as quickly they turned back to their own business. When our survivor-of-the-modern-world stopped, she stood […]
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Two From The Vault
Continue ReadingFew of us in our lifetime will achieve the cool aloofness and concentration of this professional musician. And most of us would appear ridiculous (not nearly as hip) wearing a conical, horizontally-striped cap like the one covering our subject’s head. Somehow the keyboardist brings off his unflappable performance with ease and confidence — looking as […]
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Attempting Urban Symbolism
Continue ReadingOne sees fountains (real and simulated) all over Las Vegas, Nevada A constant irony in this arid location where rain falls sporadically. Exhortations to relax and be entertained — to indulge yourself — assail your every conscious moment. Winning is definitely not guaranteed. Here there are probably as many ways to lose your shirt (or […]
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Unidentified Whatchamacallit Near Bluewater, CA
Continue ReadingI found nothing tall, nothing familiar — no trees or structures, no animal forms in the surrounding terrain — to demonstrate (by visual means alone) the size of our exotic object. The hill I estimate rose sixty feet above marshes connecting to the Colorado River’s blue channel. The smiling humanoid in our photograph covered a […]
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Stopping By Pancho’s Gate
Continue ReadingWhen hunting photographs by automobile my mind numbs over the initial distances, across territory made sterile for me by repeated exposures. In that mode I passed the sign pointing to Pancho’s Place. The oddness of the scene must have triggered unwitting thoughts — taking some time to surface — because gradually over the next half […]
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