So Close And Yet So Far

Inspired by my recent acquisition of the Walker Evans book “Many Are Called,” I’ve been walking around with my camera quite a bit lately in an attempt to catch real people doing life’s mundane tasks. This particular shot was taken last week while I was sitting in the airport at Burbank, CA, waiting for my flight to San Francisco to board.I took a couple of others, but I found this one to be the most interesting. This married couple were completely buried in their respective books. Occasionally, they would glance up at the same time, look around, and maybe mumble something to each other, all of which would take about five seconds, then it was back into the book. It reminded me a lot of ice dancing – a lot of synchronized movement.

You can interpret this picture in two ways, I guess. One would be to look at the almost exact postures of both – they’re almost 100% in sync in the way they’re reading. Is this twin-like posture simply because they’ve been together and in love so long that their physical tendencies and habits have just morphed? Or turn it 180 degrees the other way – you could say there isn’t even a hint of love here. The pocketbook is wedged between them – a clear, divisive barrier. There is not a single item, be it a coat, a hand, anything of one’s touching the other. Are they a bored couple, just living it out? We’ll never know.

The following day was a Saturday and I basically had the weekend to wander about. Since I’ve spent quite a lot of time in San Francisco proper, I decided it was time to take a drive north of the city to Muir Woods. Muir Woods is home to some of the world’s tallest Redwood trees and I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to grab some snapshots. In addition, I had actually never seen a Redwood in person, so I was very curious to view the famous giants.

The woods themselves weren’t unlike any other woods I’ve ever trudged through. California has seen its share of rain this season and then some, so the woods were quite vibrant and green, but the trees are the all-stars. The pictures I took didn’t come out as well as I’d hoped, but some of them do capture the bright colors and contrasts. Had I not included picture #4 in this set, you would never really get a good grasp of how magnificent and gigantic these trees really are. Picture #8 is also a little misleading – I am not really that bald.

I should make a note to family and friends – I will never snap a picture of you without your knowledge. I only do it to strangers. Really.