Days of Nothing
I think in charts. I try to picture a chart diagramming the amount of images created by humans through history. I see an image of the earth surrounded by 100 cave paintings, and slowly adding images, with a massive jump in the last 20 years. When we needed to process film, we were more selective about the images we made. The internet has provided a place for all of us to load every digital image we make, regardless of the mundane subject matter. Since I like mundane subject matter of ordinary life, this is good.
I recently found a set of images on the Elko County Rose Garden website. I can’t remember why I was at the Elko County Rose Garden website, which is sort of like having a blackout and waking up in Tijuana, “What? How’d I end up here?” There is a section on the site of images of Currie, Nevada. Currie is a town that is for sale if you want a town. Pretty mundane and wonderful.
I’m a big fan of photographers Stephen Shore, William Eggleston, and Jeff Brouws. These Currie, Nevada photos are incredible in the same vein. I don’t know if it is intentional or accidental, but these are beautiful. I love the empty vastness, and the sense of giving-up. The compositions are wonderful, and the subject matter is beautiful. In this instance, I’m not going to decide if these images have pedigree and judge them accordingly. I’m just going to like them.