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   Up On The Roof
Pedestrians   

By the Roadside

 Posted on January 4, 2019      by David B. Moore
 3

David b moore “By the Roadside” 01/04/19

There are so many images already out there in the universe that you have to ask yourself, why should I make another of something close to what already exists. I heard Barbra Kruger say something like that about 25 years ago, and she must really mean it now!  But I create to show beauty within the mundane, that I find, or in this case to tell a story by providing or arranging objects in the camera frame, that form a narrative.  Tiny little stories that the viewer actually form themselves.  Some stories flow better than others, but that’s why I keep trying.  I develop, stop, fix, and then wash, again, again and again.
3 Comments for By the Roadside

Tom

Thank you David. For me your image is very powerful. It takes me to vivid images and stories formed by years in a highway patrol uniform. A world exists along highways which most people drive by and rarely give thought to. Skid marks, broken glass, oil stains, debris and personal items thrown from vehicles during crashes, discarded first aid supplies and blood stains, roadside memorials placed by love ones, and monuments to men and women in uniform who gave their lives. Beyond the roadside I am drawn to the image of a highway patrol officer knocking on the door of family members in the middle of the night to tell them a love one will never come home. The family is about to experience a pain which will never go away. The officer’s compassion means a piece of the pain will remain with the officer as well. I am also drawn to images of an officer’s family members at a graveside with a coffin draped with an American flag and a trooper’s “smoky” hat. Surrounding the family are rows and rows of men and women in dress uniform quietly showing their respect for a fallen brother or sister many of them have never met, yet they know the fallen officer very well. Like the fallen officer, they all stepped up to do a job which needs to be done because they recognize there is an important cause larger than themselves.

I have many happy stories from my years in uniform as well, but they are not foremost in my mind at the moment. A brother officer who I went through the academy with recently retired after thirty years in uniform only to die of cancer a month later Christmas morning (officers have a thirty percent higher risk of cancer and a three hundred percent higher chance of heart disease). Another officer with over thirty years of service who I worked with took his own life about a week ago. Another retired brother told me not long ago that if he didn’t get a handle on his drinking, he would be dead in three years. I also regularly see a brother who has chronic PTSD. He is a broken and isolated man who struggles to make it through every single day.

I share these thoughts knowing you understand because I am fortunate to call you a friend.

Again, thank you.

Reply

    david

    Thank you Tom for your heart felt thoughts and your service while working, and now with your brothers in need!

    David

    Reply

    Russ Widstrand

    Tom, thanks for you contribution to our project. You comment makes me think of gratitude, gratitude for all the first responders out there and gratitude for the safety they provide to me and my family. I have a friend from the forest service (fire fighter) that has serious neurological concerns right now… can barely get food down and can stop breathing at any moment. So again, thanks for your service and that of so many others.

    Reply



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