I've always found this a trying time of the year.
Trying? To do what, Jack? (Jack is C.S. Lewis)
The leaves not yet out, mud everywhere you go.
Frosty mornings gone.
Sunny mornings not yet come.
Give me blizzards and frozen pipes, but not this nothing time.
Not this waiting room of the world.
I took photos of people who work outside in January, expecting that they would be experiencing major cases of ennui, or as C.S. Lewis said, suffering “in the waiting room of the world.”
I went into the photo shoot expecting people to be generally unhappy, but I got something else. The people I spoke to were friendly, happy and some were very chatty. By the end of this experiment I realized that even if you’re the guy holding a sign on the sidewalk when it’s 37 degrees, you can still have something to be happy about. We’re past the most wonderful time of the year with little hope of spring, and yet the people I met seemed to be content with what they were doing.
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wow... that last picture says a lot. is that the owner on a break? because that is exactly who i would expect to see there for some reason...
ReplyDeleteI love the guy on the tractor. His smile just made my day.
ReplyDeleteI think that the idea of doing an essay by presenting Lewis' comments and then following up with photos is a great one. But all of the photos contradict what he said. He basically said give me anything but living in January, yet all of the subjects are happy. I feel like writing an essay that disproves or in someway invalidates its epithet is contrary to the purpose of epithets
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of my project was to contradict what CS Lewis said. Hence "happy people in the waiting room of the world." The introduction explains it.
ReplyDeleteI love the homeless man with doritos and mountain dew, and the man smoking on the street. They both seem to say that little things, guilty pleasures (the food and the cigarette) can make someone happy even when it's hard to be so.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite photo by far is the homeless man.
ReplyDeleteI think your photo of the mailman is well-framed - the truck fills the picture, and the mountains provide nice lines in the background.
ReplyDeleteI really like the backgrounds in all of your photos. I think the fact that they were all taken outside really adds continuity to the essay even though the jobs vary.
ReplyDeleteI love the color tones in all the pictures. It was a fantastic theme that was consistent throughout all of your photos. Even the homeless guy looks happy.
ReplyDelete