Equivalents Revisited #26

Wendell Earth #12

I can't think of anything interesting or profound or witty to say about this image. But when I look at it, I get a sense of something. Like time standing still. Or rather, the rest of time flying by so quickly.

Wendell Earth #11

Nothing special here.

I was out one morning and I saw this door. Boarded up, rusty sheet metal, cool painted fist. When I saw it, I thought, "That boarding-up can't be to keep the mischievous at bay. Who the hell would go into this building? If that door was standing wide open, who would go through it?'"

You can add your own profound thoughts to the whole "open door" thing, if you like. For me, it was pretty simple: I ain't going in there.

Wendell Earth #10

The other day I was driving up Twelve Mile Road in Warren, Michigan. It was a beautiful day. The GM Tech Center is on Twelve Mile Road in Warren.

From Wikipedia:
"The GM Technical Center is a General Motors facility in Warren, Michigan. The campus is home to 16,000 GM engineers, designers, and technicians and has been the center of the company's engineering effort for 50 years.
The "Tech Center" was designed by architect Eero Saarinen, with construction beginning in 1949. The campus was completed in 1955 and ceremonially opened by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on May 16, 1956. The facility cost the company approximately US$100,000,000 at the time. The American Institute of Architects honored it in 1986 as the most outstanding architectural project of its era.
The Tech Center sprawls across 330 acres (1.3 km2) of land and includes 11 miles (18 km) of roads and 1.1 miles (1.8 km) of tunnels. It includes 25 main buildings and numerous additional structures including a water tower and 22-acre (89,000 m2) lake."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Technical_Center

Wendell Earth #9

When I see stuff like this, I wonder if other people see it, or am I the only one.

I look around. I see the people as they drive by. Hoopties, SUV's, Hybrids. Coffee in one hand, cell phone in the other. Child seats, fast food, grocery list, to-do list, life goals reconfigured. Chain smoking, drank too much, didn't drink enough. Emotional, love, hate, something like love and hate. "What time did I leave Point A because I don't want to get to Point B too early."

Do they see me standing along the road side with a camera and tripod? Do I look all weird too them? Do they see me and my gear and think, "What's the hell wrong with him?" Do they even notice me? And if they do, do they ever look to where I shooting expecting to see something like a fire, or a car wreck, or a naked girl? Do they find anything of interest?

Seen in Detroit #42

At one point, like many photographers, I was obsessed the urban ruin. Photo after photo exposing the ugly side of city life. Then one day, inexplicably, my attitude changed.

Wendell Earth #8

Don't bother to ask me what this is about. I'll play the aloof artist card, pretend like I don't know and then say "I saw it. I shot it. I post-processed the heck out of it."

Clearly, there are religious undertones. A result of my upbringing. But the reference would be meaningless unless you as the viewer were also familiar with the classic tales. You know; the tale of Moses and The Burning Bush? The Ten Commandments? The movie? Charlton Heston? Staff turns into a snake and eats the other snakes? The Burning Bush?

Okay, God visits Charlton Heston (as Moses) in the form of a magical bush. This bush is known ironically as The Burning Bush. Where's the irony? The bush is on fire, but the bush doesn't burn, hence the irony: even though the bush is on fire and doesn't burn, its called "The Burning Bush." Maybe it should have been called "The Flaming Bush" or "The Hot Bush."

To further the irony, after working a miracle by making a bush thats on fire but doesn't burn, instead of saving the Hebrews, The Burning Bush rolls out to Moses a list of nearly impossible assignments. I guess, in a way, its mirrors real life. How many men have prayed for hot bush, then get it, but all the hot bush does is give you stuff to do ... (note: this a joke of the perverted and sexist type ie. hot bush = hot girl; get it?)

Anyway, the bush is Moses' vision from God.

Getting back to the image, I think the reality is maybe I really did saw-it-shot-it this tree because the story is so heavily entrenched in my mind. Not to admit that i am, maybe ... programmed. Just maybe on some level I was looking for a sign. That sign. Then I saw it and went, "there it is."

A question thats more interesting to me is, "What is this image about to you?"