An abandoned cart in an isle in the supermarket.
A dead fish washed up on the beach.
Lunch money left at home.
A line cook drops a steak.
My camera jams because I tried to load 40 frames.
An earthquake kills thousands of people.
The cart contains a jacket. The jacket contains a wallet. The wallet contains a piece of paper. The paper is a rations ticket from his service in World War II. He kept it because it reminded him of his friend who died in the invasion of Normandy.
The dead fish on the beach attracts a dog’s attention. Its master runs after it but is far away. A girl playing nearby sees the dog. The man sees her. For the best things in life, nothing could have prepared him.
Lunch money on the dining room table at home where it is always placed before school. It is only two dollars. “Today I will go hungry,” he thinks, “but it is better to be hungry than beat up.”
“Surely the germs will cook off, right?” thinks the line cook. The waitress saw it fall as she entered the kitchen. Steaks and lawyers are expensive.
A photographer’s worst fear is pressing the shutter and nothing happens. Dead batteries or jammed film. With the high technology nothing is safe, but we take the chance: salt water, sand, too hot or too cold. Instead of cursing the technology, the opportunity arrises to forget the camera. People react differently with cameras in the way.
Who’s fault? The city on a fault. The buildings, the government, the roads, the geology and geography of the thing. When one and one always equals two, why would anyone need blame. Some things just happen. Nature is nature.
Stay tuned, it is my nature…
-Noah D.
