Waffle House (again)
When Cris and I drove to South Carolina this year we left home late in the day and drove through the night as we usually do. We always joke about the IHOP-Waffle House line and how it mostly mirrors the Mason-Dixon line. The Waffle House breakfasts can be a bit on the greasy side, but there isn’t much choice on I-95. We were amazed to find an IHOP near Florence, SC so we stopped and ate at around 6.oo am. We got back on the road and a bit later we stopped for gas. We laughed because it was the same exit where we ate at a Waffle House last year. The sun had just broken through the clouds and the building looked great in the morning light.
Tommy
Sometimes I get a bit blocked up when I think about writing on this blog. Since the suitcases project has garnered so much attention, and with all the new subscribers, I sometimes feel a bit self-conscious. It is something I fight against, but in the last week I have been suffering from a bit of “Karma Congestion” as my friend Alex would call it. The easiest way for me to get back into it is to post something that makes me really happy.
When I was shooting the UMASS Fenway game last week, I was surprised and really glad to see my son Peter’s great friend Tommy. He and Pete have known each other since middle school and he is one of the nicest people around. This picture says just about all you need to know about him. Such a treat to run into him in such an unexpected place.
Willard Suitcase #11
This suitcase belonged to Floyd H. It is one of the many empty cases that are in the collection.
When I first started on this project, my plan was to shoot only cases that had something in them.
As the work has developed though, I am finding that there is a segment of my backers that are as interested in the cases themselves as the contents.
So I will make an attempt to include as many of these suitcases as I can, since even when empty they tell a lot about the people who owned them.
Floyd’s case did have this tag in it, and I believe it is the original from when he was admitted. I am still struggling with the name issue, and regretfully have made the decision to obscure his surname via photoshop. Aside from the legal issues, this causes a huge problem for me, as I don’t believe in manipulating the content of photographs. This opens a major can of worms, and I am guessing that I will get response from both sides of the issue, but as of now, I find it necessary. I will say though that as a rule, I never mess around with the content of these images, and only will do so when it comes down to the identification of the residents.
Frozen Fenway
This past Saturday I shot the UMASS / Vermont ice hockey game at Fenway Park in Boston. My friend Thom Kendall was covering the action on the ice, and I had the luxury of just wandering around shooting whatever looked interesting. It was great fun to have the run of the place. It was the first official event in this, the 100th year of the park. So much history. / This panorama was taken from the “Green Monster”.
1 January, 2012
This is the first New Year’s Day in years that there hasn’t been snow on the ground. Cris and I went up into the woods with the Pearl and it was clear and sunny with the temperature in the mid 40’s. Sometimes it seems that winter should already be over, especially since we had so much snow in late October.
There was still ice in the shaded areas.
We had never noticed this dead tree before, and when we first saw it we were reminded of the Knights of Ni from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
He even had some hair-like plants sprouting out of his head.
/Cris had dropped one of my handkerchiefs on a walk just after Thanksgiving, and some kind soul found it and put it high enough into a tree so that it would be visible to whomever had lost it.
I have always hated losing things and when we saw it in the tree today it made us very happy. It’s nice to start the new year being on the receiving end of someone’s thoughtfulness.
All the best to you all for 2012. Jon
Pearl
For some reason, Pearl has become very attached to her leash. When we walk down to the bottom of our street, we need one to cross the Amherst Road. Just this past summer, she started wanting to carry it in her mouth. If I have it in my hand, she keeps nudging me until I give it to her. She is the sweetest dog.
Willard Suitcase #10
This is another of Eleanor G.’s cases.
The way in which the museum wraped these suitcases really resonates with me on this one, and you will see just why as you scroll down to the last picture.
I like the style of this one; nothing special but extremely functional.
The remnants of the tags are always interesting to me.
Eleanor made some of her own clothes, as you might have inferred from the contents of the previous post.
The clothing in this case really got to me.
The fabric had a feel to it that was so much of another time.
And the embroidery work on the collar of this sun dress was so delicate.
I couldn’t figure out why she or someone else wrote her initials on this dress, especially in such a prominent place.
Here is more of her embroidery work.
I love the color of the hat, and would guess that she added the adornment to it herself.
It might be a bit difficult to make out, but the bow on this dress so resembles the way the string is tied on the outside of the wrapped cases that I immediately made a connection between the two.
Milk Cap
One day when I was in college, I was standing in front of the mailboxes in Ferncliff Hall and dropped a penny. It landed on its edge between my feet and stayed that way. I thought it was really cool and decided to leave it there. I walked by several hours later and it was still in the same place in spite of all the people who had walked by. I thought of it as a good omen; something unusual that I was a part of, and I remember that day as being especially nice. A similar thing happened with an aspirin a few years later and I began to pay attention to the correlation between dropping something that stayed on its edge and having a happy and productive day. Over all these years it has maybe happened 20 or so times with various objects, and I always feel elated. Yesterday morning as I was making tea for Cris and me, I took the cap off the milk and dropped it. It turned out to be a very nice day.
Birds
I have always liked the birds in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park.
The swan was spending a lot of time looking for something to eat, and the geese were just sleepin’.
Earl’s Court Tube Station
I have taken this very same photograph multiple times. I was looking through my contact sheets for an earlier version and realized just how much has changed over the years in terms of photography. Shoot film>Develop>Dry>Cut>Put in sleeves>Contact sheets>Edit>Enlarge>Make some postcards>Mail to 3 friends. Digital is so much easier for me now. Shoot>Download>Edit>Upload>Write post>Get great response from loads of people I have never met. I understand why some still prefer film, but for me this is so much better.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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