Heading back across the state today to Tampa. Before I left Boca Raton I went to the beach to take a few pictures. A gate attendant at South Beach let me park for free. We talked for a few minutes and then she asked me if I could come back at 1:30 and have lunch with her. She had moved to Florida from Michigan and said she hadn't been able to meet anyone just to go out with for a bite to eat. She said I seemed so nice. I told her I did know someone in Boca who didn't work and was about her age, so she gave me her number and I promised to pass it on. I would never be able to do something like that, no matter how lonely I was...suffer in silence. I appreciated her bravery. I hope she makes a friend soon...
On the beach the waves, the sand,were refreshing. I had a discussion with a friend this week about overanalyzing photography...thinking about it too much (especially when I want to photograph people) and then ending up talking myself out of taking it at all. In the spirit of transformation I approached the lifeguard and asked if I could take his picture. I told him about my hesitancy to photograph people. He readily agreed...I wish I had taken the gate attendant's picture too...I will post his picture here when it is developed. I was quite pleased with myself...
I continued my journey, back north on the Florida turnpike, then revisiting Yeehaw junction, then through mile after mile of rural Florida...cows, sod farms, wide open spaces...wait till you see Ruby's Folk Art and Produce Market...a hidden treasure in the middle of nowhere. I've been nowhere for some time now....hoping these travels into nowhere lead me somewhere...
3 comments:
Yeehaw Junction will lead you somewhere, alright. Especially in the summer.
I've been looking at "The Americans" again, looking at the grittiness and loneliness of the time period, and I think that the shininess of the new growth is beginning to wear off. We will meet a lot more of those gate attendants, and maybe Yeehaw Junction will look good compared to what happens when the shiny nickel loses its shine.
great! nowhere is nowhere until you, I mean YOU, are there. please keep going....your road trip is a breath of fresh air regarding photos and over-thinking them and/or anticipating an audience, when it is our moment with a camera that has value.
Regarding photographing people: Sebastiao Salgado always asks permission, Cartier-Bresson never did. The results, to my eye, look very similar. Do what makes you feel comfortable.
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