Six Days On The Road

Dave Dudley once sang

“Well my rig's a little old,
But that don't mean she's slow.
There's a flame from her stack,
And the smoke's rolling black as coal.
My hometown's coming in sight,
If you think I'm happy your right.
Six days on the road and I'm gonna make it home tonight.”

Im tired…no…I take that back, Im exhausted. Six days of sleeping on couches, six days of drinking caffeine that comes in little plastic containers with pictures of lemons or grapes on them. On day six, a fourteen hour drive hauling a 68’ Impala wagon across Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California in a straight shot.

During my six day sojourn in the red desert sands of Utah, my camera and I wandered the cedars, sands and sage brush of Bo Huff’s salvage yard at night. A full moon as my guide, a trusty flash light, the howling coyotes…and a wild imagination were my constant companions as I stood there in the dark painting with light and waiting for the moon light to do the rest.

The mind can take you to some strange places when you sit in the dark for hours at a time with only the moon and stars to light the way. Did they ever catch that cannibal that escaped from the nearby prison years ago? Will a pack of chupacabras get tired of eating mexican goats and decide a fat Hick-Spanic photographer with lots of marbleized meat make a good meal instead? Have the polar bears had enough of the melting ice caps and decided to wander on down to the Utah desert? Ok, I admit the polar bear thing is a bit far fetched, but Im not giving up on the chupacabras theory…yet.

Anyway, I went to see my friend Bo Huff before he started his Chemotherapy and took some pictures along the way. Enjoy.

Stinkin Kids

Yeah, yeah, every parent wants to show off photos of their kids, Im no different. What can I say? Only these aren’t mushy face newborn photos. No baldheaded, splotchy skin, eyes shut photos here. I would never subject anyone to newborn shots, after all, all newborns look the same…cone shaped heads, googly eyes (when they are actually opened) and we’re all supposed to melt with oohhh’s and ahhh’s when we see them. Nope not me.

The other night, on a whim, I told my sons let's have a photo shoot right here in the living room. Of course their savage little minds took this and ran. My youngest son dressed in a sheet like a toga with briefs on his head with his tongue sticking out the pee hole! Oh, what the hell have I done? After my ranting and raving and yelling at them not to act like idiots, they showed up next in their underwear, flexing like Mr. Olympia! Oh hell NO! What do you want me to do, go to jail for kiddie porn?! Anyone remember that episode of Different strokes where some perverted old man asked little Arnold to dress in his underwear and flex? Nooooo, not me.

This was turning out to be mistake, hyper active kids prancing around in their underwear making fart noises and wanting to pose while doing it! Finally they calmed down long enough for me to take a few serious photos. My oldest son even took a few photos me. He directed me how to pose, where to look etc. Kids….they’ll make you want to split your skull open with a dull butter knife one moment, then make you glad you didn’t the next.

Was I like that when I was a kid? Nope, I was worse.

Ramblings of a Nostalgic mind

nos•tal•gi•a [no stáljə, nə stáljə]noun
1. Sentimental recollection: a mixed feeling of happiness, sadness, and longing when recalling a person, place, or event from the past, or the past in general.

How do you see the world, in black & white or color? Of course this is a metaphorical question. Even the color blind see the world in color. Without a doubt the advent of color film changed the way in which we see the world. But has B&W photography lost its place in the world? Has film lost its place in the world? My first inclination is NO WAY!
In much the same way that I enjoy the aesthetics of a vehicle built in the 1930’s photography on film holds the same charm. Sure a modern vehicle can out perform an antique vehicle on every scale, but there is something that a vintage vehicle has that can never be duplicated or captured by a modern high-tech vehicle. Such is the same with photography; while I shoot very little film nowadays I still love the aesthetics, the feel, and yes even the smell of film and paper.
What spurred this trip down amnesia lane? Rummaging through my boxes of negatives and prints, I came across many, many contact prints where I never printed a single frame off the roll of film. I just shot the film, processed it and filed it away. I nearly forgot about these until I discovered them again. That’s what I love about photography; photos can conjure feelings of nostalgia, telling us who we were, who we are and where we might be going. So here’s to the good ol’ days from just a few years ago, when the economy was good, when film was king and when people still spoke face to face. Here’s to the present, may we endure it with a smile on our face, and strong backs. And lastly here’s to the future, may we all arrive at the same destination and look back with fondness on how we got there.