So much for my mental break....I'm back,I guess I never really left,although it was starting to feel like I would have to.So here I am,we'll see how long I can stay....
I grew up in the Deep South,born in the Big City,(Atlanta)raised in the oldest permanentsettlement in the United States,Pensacola, Florida.I mention this because a sense of place and historyhave always been with me since I left thereand moved on to other really big cities,such as London, Chicago, Miami and nowNew York.
These William Christenberry imageshaunt me in that they remind me of my childhood.They make me feel young,they make me feel like I belong somewhere.
I was born in 1965,so this is exactly what it looked like to me growing up.I'm not going to get into politics here,but as you can imagine I grew up in a veryliberal, open minded household.This was at odds with theprevailing sentiments of the time,and place,but I liked that, the tensionof being different. Believe what you will, butSoutherners are open and honest,and speak their minds.Maybe that is why we get such a bad rap for being racists.The whole world is racist.Drive 15 minutes past the George Washington Bridgehere in NYCand you will be surroundedby rednecks, hillbillies and bigots.Don't believe me?Try it.
Religion was never a real part of my life.It was in my father's,and I'm pretty sure why it wasn't in mine.I was christened in the Episcopal Church,but I could count the number of times I have been in church since that day onmy fingers and toes.
Speaking of my father,he grew up in a house in Vernon, Florida(If you have never seen Errol Morris'sdocumentary on Vernon, it is a must.)not much different than this one.Not run down like this one,but the same architectural style,Cracker Architecture.
Did this very specific landscape influence and/or shape my aesthetic?I feel like it did,at least in the same way it shaped Mr. Christenberry's.I could have (and have!) taken all these shots before,I say that not as I could have done what he did as well and as beautifully as he has done it, I say that in that I can feel in each one of these shots,that I could have taken them.I don't feel that way about many photographers,and it is not just the familiar landscape,it is more,it is the feeling they invoke in me....
I remember seeing signs like this and being fascinated by them.I wanted to take them, steal them, possess them,but I wasn't sure why.They had no value...(Or at least I thought until I moved to New York and walked through one of the folk art shows....)So what was it?The voice? The passion? The simplicity?The honesty?
Everything about these imagesring true to me.But that is nothing special,wherever, whenever you grew up,if you are shown pictures from that place and time,especially when you reach a certain age,you will feel these same feelings.These photos are special,don't get me wrong,but they are especially special to me,because they give me that feeling,whatever that feeling is.
"Child's Grave with Lamb"Hale County, Alabama1981
Disco people rockYes they do.
I'm starting to run out of things to say,not that I started this post trying to say something.I actually was going to say, it was my plan to say,that I wasn't going to say much of anything for a while, and that I was just gonna post pictures and videos andkeep the jokes and snide, sarcastic remarks to myself.But here I am, saying more than I have ever said.
This yard is not dirt because they had no grass,it is dirt because they swept it.My dad would always point out aswept yardwhen we would drive past one.That fascinated me since in the neighborhoodI grew up in peoplewere obsessed with watering, fertilizing, and mowingtheir yards.Also notice how the trunks of the trees are painted white.My memory is that they were usually only painted 2-3 feet up thetrunk,but these go way up.Interesting....Some say they were painted to keep away pests:there are all sorts of theories,but I feel they were painted for decoration.It may have started somewhere for pest deterrence,but I am pretty sure it was just to look pretty.
Matt O, the top picture is for you, (for obvious reasons)and Matt B,the bottom image is for you.The designer and the DJ,together again for a nite, a moment... eternity?
This last photograph is for you Jessica.Because you, better than anyone else I know, can see the beautyin decay,and have an optimism for life thatdoesn't see a rotting building,but a beautiful and magical"kudzu monster".Thank-you for that.More here