solitary commander, rebels arrested
Author: WmX
I stumbled off the track to success in 1968, started chasing shadows that summer. Since then, In addition to farm-laborer and newspaper photographer my occupational incarnations include dishwasher, janitor, retail photo clerk, plumber, HVAC repairman, auto mechanic, CAT scan technologist, computer worker and politico (whatever it takes to buy a camera.) I am on the road to understanding black and white photography.
Decamp
de·camp
verb (used without object)
1. to depart from a camp; to pack up equipment and leave a camping ground: We decamped before the rain began.dictionary.com
We are supposed to inhabit the present. It is something I don’t do well. I don’t understand opportunity when it is in front of me. There you go. Don’t understand the visual when it is in front of me. End up wondering after the fact. Was that love? Was that a gift? End up wondering about details too. Was that thing significant? Was that thing mundane?
This photo is a 0.1666th of a second from the last day in November, 2338 hours. The Charlottesville Virginia Occupiers being removed from a City park for violating its 11p.m. curfew.
Were the ball-caps significant? They were a florescent green. Did they have a printed message? Seven people in the frame are wearing the caps.
The items on a pole on the left and the words “occupy for justice”. Looks like a standard, a repurposed 21st Century Aquila
In profile this staff and standard resembles a bird with a heron-like beak. In profile it looks like a kill stick. What is it intended to convey? How is it used?
There are police or firemen on the right, blurred. They are moving… to arrest the naked lady? Who are the actors? Who is that female illuminated enface in the foreground? Does her video include commentary? What is she saying? Is this what democracy looks like? Is this what Kabuki theater looks like? Who is that man on that horse?
O Lost!
Will Pay for Grass Seed
Future uncertain.
Do we stay or go?
Go where?
Some staying.
Hey, the officer is making me nervous.
What is going to happen to our stuff?
Porta Johns are leaving.
Discussion
decision making
July 11, 1955
Gray’s birthday party in the basement.
wheelbarrow
early stages of the Christmas setup
day of rest
Adrian
New Orleans artist Adrian Fulton at work, 622 Conti Street.
Dividing Creek
On the way to Dividing Creek we pass this store. Old style. Organic. Presumably grew in response to the needs of the local population and the owners. Forty years ago “country stores” were prevalent, nowadays there is the WalMart.
I’ve been snapping a Thanksgiving picture for years. There were twenty people in the photo today but only seven repeats from twenty years ago. Whither the absent?
They are covered up, moved on, elsewhere, otherwise engaged and alone. For better and for worse.
The missing are all missed.
slabtown dawn
We pause to express our deep gratitude for the many blessings we enjoy. Give us the strength and the wisdom to demonstrate that gratitude in thoughts and words and deeds acceptable to you. Protect our absent loved ones and protect this family circle with everlasting love.–Charlie Murchison
hooverville
I caught the last hour of speechifying before Charlottesville City Council by the Occupiers. Peace, love and social transformation. Justice! Drunks cured by love and community, abandoning the bottle. The group coming together in support of one another. Liminality and communitas having their beautiful, tumultuous day down in Lee Park. Council’s recommendation is to somehow institutionalize, let the people keep caring for each other and free-speaking, but do it elsewhere. The Rutherford Institute is in the mix. Maybe Charlottesville will get its own Speakers Corner?
Obamaville?
The best suggestion was to occupy the Landmark, the skeletonized ghost hotel on the Downtown Mall.