maniquin

Sometimes subjects come up and I take the image, not sure how it will fit in with what I usually get attracted to.  I captured the image to study it later, to ponder what this means to me.  I was in central Phoenix in a more commercial area as apposed to retail shops. This freshly painted building with windows selling dresses for weddings and quinceaneras stood out for me.  I’m a country bumpkin with no clue on why women, in general, want to dress up and feel pretty.  I cant speak on that subject, but there might be something there. Perhaps the faceless white figures lined up like factory robots, of the future, was more of what caught my eye.  Not really sure yet what it’s all about, but will ponder this some more.

Just the other day while standing in the rental car line in Bozeman I turned around and saw a man standing behind me. “I asked him if he was Jerry Ulseman”. He smiled and said “No.” “Do you get that a lot,” I pressed. “Do you know who he is?” Again, he replied “No, but I do know who he is. I’m a photographer as well.” “Really,” I said, “What is your name?.” “Steven Shore” Struck numb I began to tell him how much influence he and his book “The Nature of Photographs” has effected me and my thought process about photography for the past 10-12 years. We had a quick, but nice chat as the line swiftly moved along. Having had that encounter I started seeing differently, trying to recognize the compositional construction of an image through conjuring his eyes as mine. It is impossible for me to actually see like he does just as no one else sees the way I do. As a young photographer my friends would say frequently to me, “You make photographs of the strangest things.” I always thought maybe something is wrong with me. It took years for me to realize something was right with me. This image is not the usual capture I might make and I have to believe it was the influence of my encounter of Shore that led me to push the button.