Taken east of San Antonio.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
Nationalism
When various elements come together like they do here I am inclined to wonder to what degree the juxtaposition is intentional?
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Patriot Act
In one sense I can't call this "unexpected," as it was obviously "posed," created, constructed. It might be "unexpected" if you haven't seen it before, or you're visiting this blog with certain presuppositions; or, then again, it might not.
Sky Pilot
Taken on Lamar, where else, but in Austin. I find the ambiguity of this street art interesting. I take it as intended to be ironic, but is there any good reason it has to be?
New Direction
I've been posting to a daily blog at Animus and have virtually stopped posting here, for it seems a sort of redundancy. In the meantime, I've had a couple of images published at File Magazine --"the magazine of unexpected photography." I love the aesthetic at File Mag and it seems a more logical direction in which to point my postings here, if I'm going to maintain this blog. So, my postings here will be erratic, since the "unexpected" is unpredictable; but I hope they will also be more interesting.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Trans Texas Corridor
The US Supreme Court effectively eliminated private property rights with it's Kelo decision, a decision that essentially allows anyone wealthy and hooked up politically to take land from anyone who isn't --under the cover of urban renewal, or hypothetically increased tax revenues. This is little more than legalized theft by the powerful. Individual states, of course, can choose to uphold the US Constitution and past rule of law. New Jersey, it seems, may have done just that in placing limits on these legalized thefts.
In Texas, once a bastion of property rights --a relative bastion at least-- the State is seeking to do the Supreme Court one better with what is probably the biggest single eminent domain theft in US history. If there is a more flagrant abuse of eminent domain in the service of private interests and cronies, I've never heard of it. The "Republican" government seeks to condemn private property in a mile wide swath across the entire State, and then turn this property over to the control of private interests --private interests, that is, who are more moneyed and hooked up than the current private owners. This in-your-face legalized theft, and ultimate boondoggle, is called the "Trans Texas Corridor."
As this sign indicates, one of hundreds along Highway 95, east of Austin, this notion isn't particularly popular with land owners who will see family property --in one of the most beautiful areas of the State-- disappear forever into the pockets of corrupt politicians and their corporate cronies.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
The Turtle Who Crossed the Road
I saw this turtle in the middle of a country highway. I turned around, stopped my car, and carried him across. You see a lot of dead armadillos, racoons, possums, skunks, and deer along Texas roadways, but not many dead turtles, so maybe he would have been OK on his own. Maybe I scared him more than the speeding traffic. He certainly kept his head tightly inside his shell.
Confederate Cemetary?
Driving through Flatonia, Texas, I noticed that the town cemetary was freshly populated with Confederate flags. I stopped to take photos wondering if the flags represented a contemporary political statement or tribute to actual Confederate soldiers. Although I can't completely discount the possibility that some number of these flags are politically motivated, most of them appeared to be decorating graves of men who were alive during the Civil War --such as the one below of W.D. Gale, who died in 1896.
Although many of the grave stones made explicit reference to military service in WWI and WWII, I didn't see such references to the Civil War. As Texas did not play a central role in the Civil War, I found it surprising to find so many potential grave sites of Confederate soldiers in a small-town Texas cemetary. And how amazing is it that W.D. Gale, who died over 100 years ago, is still remembered by someone who cares enough to mark his grave and honor his memory? The following two photos are representative of the grave sites decorated with Confederate flags.
Although many of the grave stones made explicit reference to military service in WWI and WWII, I didn't see such references to the Civil War. As Texas did not play a central role in the Civil War, I found it surprising to find so many potential grave sites of Confederate soldiers in a small-town Texas cemetary. And how amazing is it that W.D. Gale, who died over 100 years ago, is still remembered by someone who cares enough to mark his grave and honor his memory? The following two photos are representative of the grave sites decorated with Confederate flags.
Gone But Not Forgotten
A road side grave site in Flatonia, Texas, decorated for Easter. Compare this one to my previous photo of the same site posted in February, and titled "graveflowers."
Round Here
This is a wall that obviously needs a door. Taken in an alley in Taylor, Texas. Just before I took this photo a guy in a truck stopped and asked, rather aggressively, just why I was taking pictures. He didn't ask what I was taking pictures of, but "why" I was taking them.
This is one of those questions that can't be answered for anyone who has to ask, but, foolishly, I tried. In retrospect, it would have been smarter to make up a story, like, "I'm scouting movie locations," or, "a real estate developer hired me to find a spot for a new mall." Somebody who stops his truck to ask a question like this isn't looking for enlightenment, he's just looking for some way to feel good about himself.
Neighborhood Hydrant
I'm not sure I can explain exactly why, but I have begun a process of taking a variety of fire hydrant photos. When I have enough of them, maybe I'll construct a photo essay. I selected this hydrant more for how it blends with the background rather than anything unusual about the hydrant itself. Taken in my neighborhood.
Front Door Jesus
An Easter decoration still on display well past Easter. This painted cutout of Jesus is draped in a real cloth robe.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Junkyard Dogma
A junkyard can be a history lesson, of sorts, for those who take the time to see, and those who take the time to know; or, it can be a bookshelf of the imagination, each vehicle suggesting an album of snapshots or a diary of recollections that evoke a personal voyage across an ocean of memory. You can't look through a lot, or a pile, of broken, rusting, and decaying remnants of once used, and, perhaps, once loved, automobiles, without wondering how they got where they are now, and what happened to their owners.
More pointedly, a junkyard is a sometimes comforting reminder of our own mortality. Generations of automobiles have fallen into rot, rust, and decay, and are now exhibited before us, and we live on with the prospect that many more such generations will expire before we must face our own ends. But these ghosts of abandoned machines speak of past lives as well as past fads, and it is in this collision between history and nostalgia that we often find our disquiet.
Still, there can be great beauty in decay, in rust, in rot, and even in destruction. A junkyard presents us with a collection from which we may pick and choose our own aesthetic of disintegration.
The following five photos were taken at a junkyard east of Austin, Texas, on Highway 71.
More pointedly, a junkyard is a sometimes comforting reminder of our own mortality. Generations of automobiles have fallen into rot, rust, and decay, and are now exhibited before us, and we live on with the prospect that many more such generations will expire before we must face our own ends. But these ghosts of abandoned machines speak of past lives as well as past fads, and it is in this collision between history and nostalgia that we often find our disquiet.
Still, there can be great beauty in decay, in rust, in rot, and even in destruction. A junkyard presents us with a collection from which we may pick and choose our own aesthetic of disintegration.
The following five photos were taken at a junkyard east of Austin, Texas, on Highway 71.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Snow Lounge
Archive photo. First digital camera. From the snowfall in South Texas on Christmas eve, a couple years ago.
Book Store Window
Archive photo. First digital camera. Side window of the old Half Price Book's store near the UT campus on Guadalupe Street, Austin, Texas.
Dead Bird Dirt Road
Archive photo. First digital camera. The roads in Texas, paved or not, are littered with dead animals.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Frost Building, Austin, Texas
Owl design? At the moment, I can't find the newspaper article that said the top of this building was designed to look like an owl; all I can find are "stories" and "rumors" and assertions. Wikipedia cites an Alex Jones conspiracy theory on which it casts doubt, but really, who can deny the owl resemblance? In any case, someone spent money, time, and effort to obtain this look, and one must ask: why?
Dead Dillo
The Armadillo is the Texas State animal, and dead Armadillos tragically litter rural highways throughout the state. This strange looking creature has poor vision and is one of the few animals that can contract leprosy.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
New digital camera and new software. My first try with Photomatix. Unfortunately, I had already made the raw nef file unusable for Photomatix editing in CaptureNX and had to create multiple exposures in Photoshop by manipulating curves --limiting my control over the image. Photomatix will read a Nikon nef file adjusted in CaptureNX as long as only base RAW changes have been made. I discovered this too late.
Friday, February 23, 2007
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