megapickles

« Previous \| Home \| Next »	Safe by a Whisker Jul 21, 2008 - 07:47PM
Consecutive pictures from the same scene? Obviously, I need to do something to add contrast, so this one will be black and white. Which do you prefer? We all know that a photograph decontextualizes its subject, isolating it both spatially and sequentially. From these photographs, you have no idea what occurred just right of frame, only the day before. The unfortunates living next door found themselves on the receiving end of an unusually powerful dry microburst, or downdraft caused by an evaporating virga. Unless you’re trying to land an airplane, most such events only provide a refreshing rush of cold air, but as can be seen here, this one flattened a barn (mother and daughter inside the barn at the time clung to a support and watched the barn collapse around them, only to emerge unharmed—better off then most of the heard), destroyed a mobile home and snapped numerous trees into splinters, all in an area of less than a square quarter mile. I didn’t photograph it, not wanting to exploit a personal tragedy. This being farm country, neighbors were on hand aplenty with chain saws and trucks, helping in the clean up. Listening to John Coltrane, Giant Steps. (With Elton John in the background--he is playing tonight at the Essex Fairgrounds in the next town. He is currently singing 'Rocket Man,' so it must be nearly over.)
Posted by John Hughes Archived under: Black & White	Permalink \| Comment (5)