I went to new eye doctor that was closer to wear I live. This is her. I wanted to do a collage, but I liked the straight photo so much I didn’t go past it. I had to get new glasses by the end of 2007 for insurance purposes so I waited until New Years Eve day to go to the local eye doctor in my small town in Oklahoma. The whole staff was very nice and the doctor agreed to pose for me after we were all done. The light coming in through the office windows was fantastic and brought a beautiful glow to her skin and eyes.
The Dress shop clerk, happy and without guile. We have gone in the store a number of times on our visit to Del Mar, it is a resale shop with great clothes and great deals. We were looking for hats for the first day of the Del Mar Racetrack season, which we were going to attend just for fun! Didn’t find a hat there, but did find some great deals and a great Tommy Bahama shirt.
She had brilliant blue eyes and the bright San Diego sun was out in full force so I asked her to pose for me right outside her shop, which she was happy to do. I am not sure she was hot on my taking photos of her feet, probably worried I had a foot fetish or something (I don’t), but she allowed me to nonetheless.
The woman had taken our family photo and we had taken a photo of her and her friend. While she was posing for photos I took one as well. I didn’t notice her separation anxiety until I got home.
The Stranger Juxtaposition #10, Arizona, July 2008
He made me wait until he got his hat on before I could take his photo. The badge says ‘Single Action Shooting Society’. He is number 66566. Notice his license plate. He likes his six shooters I guess!
The restaurant experience was not indicative of the entire trip. It got much better after this!
I didn’t include the gross guy sleeping at the table next to us, or the stale, greasy smell in the restaurant, or the 4 disgustingly dirty men at another table or the really bad smell in the bathroom or the hair in my wife’s mashed potatoes. My patty melt was good though.
I brought my 88 year old father into the Vietnamese Nail Salon to get his toenails trimmed. He can’t do them anymore and they get REALLY long before he says anything about them.
While I was waiting I noticed this woman getting her nails done. I was particularly drawn to her wide set eyes and asked her if I could take her photograph. I took some photos of her fingers and nails sitting on the towel waiting to be filed.
Later when I was doing the collage of her face photos I connected the finger photos and kept seeing them as little wings. I envisioned her wanting to fly from the Vietnamese Nail Salon to New York or Dallas, to BE somewhere, to fly to the top, to be seen gliding and flying and rolling across the sky.
I later came across her at the local Target where she is a co-worker of my daughter. She didn’t remember me taking the photos at all.
I did a photo shoot with her back in 2007 and witnessed what a vortex of activity and energy she created while she was modeling. I kept having a feeling of watching a human tornado. I took some photos around the house of objects, windows, etc. and put together this collage that really seemed to play off this idea.
I chose this one for the Fourth of July because it is the quintessential eccentric American scene. The guy who lives in this house is a golf fanatic. He has a mini putting green on his lawn, complete with sand trap, water hazard (off to the right) and a pin. In the background is Old Glory illuminated by the sun. Gotta love America!
