The accident, the photograph
I often think about how day to day occurrences relate to photography.
Last night I was driving home from the studio around 11PM. All of the roads in Cushing are countryroads and I live on a dirt road myself. While coming around a turn at 45mph or so, I started along the straight away and saw a man standing in the road waving his arms to slowdown. I stopped my car, got out, and saw that a woman driving a 4×4 GMC Sierra had minutes prior literally barreled into a tree going 50-60mph. The entire front of her truck was compacted and she was trapped in the vehicle. Thankfully there was a sheriff there talking to the woman involved.
Although it was 11PM and the temperatures were in the teens, I decided to wait in the event help was needed. Two fire departments arrived minutes later with two ambulences. It was remarkable to see two departments work together with almost no words being exchanged. Everyone simply knew what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. The entire process was seamless.
It reminded me of a photograph I made of a good friend, Kelly. It was like the accident. We were comfortable enough with the situation that no words needed to be exchanged to make the photograph.
Kelly, Rockport Harbor, Maine, 2006