POTD: A Boy and His Dog

January 12, 2021 / 2 Comments

A Boy and His Dog
Bozeman, Montana
2020

Context and titles and one’s own background can heavily influence how a photograph is interpreted. That this photo follows two POTDs of images of the large rock formations at Medicine Rocks State Park might lead you to conclude that this was taken in the same area. And the image title might lead you to believe that it shows a hiker and his dog enjoying the view after climbing up into this arch in those rocks. But neither is the case. The rock is actually an inventive free-form headstone in the local cemetery. So the figures of course are not real.

I’m not a golfer but I am a hiker and I used to hike with my dogs all the time. So of course when I first saw these figure and the rock I pictured it as a representation of hiker and dog in Arches National Park or somewhere similar. From this angle you can even see that the hiker is leaning on his hiking staff. So I figured it was the grave of an avid hiker and his faithful dog. But when I got up close the hiking staff morphed into a golf club and the dog a golf bag. I imagine the gentleman buried here was an avid golfer and the choice of headstone is symbolic of his quest for golfer’s holy grail, a hole-in-one. But even knowing the truth, I still see a boy and his dog every time I look at the photo.

POTD: Helping Hand

January 7, 2021 / Leave a Comment

Helping Hand
Bozeman, Montana
2020

Another shot from the wide windowsills in our dining room. They’ve become a jumbled repository for the many interesting rocks, bones, snake skins, bird nests and other natural detritus we’ve found out and about as well as a few man-made trinkets we’ve collected over the years.

POTD: Granddad’s Barn

January 3, 2021 / 2 Comments

Granddad’s Barn
Lyndon, Kansas
circa 1971

An interior shot of my favorite of the two barns on my grandparents’ farm. One of my favorite images from my early days of photography. (From a scanned Tri-X black and white negative.)

POTD: Patchwork

January 3, 2021 / 2 Comments

Patchwork
Lyndon, Kansas
circa 1973

I believe this photo is of the side of one of the two barns on my grandparents’ farm. One of those barns (my favorite) burned down after a lightning strike and the other was dismantled by a barn wood collector when the farm was liquidated when my grandmother moved into town after the death of my grandfather in 1983. (This image is from a color slide scan that I converted to black and white.)