Sunday, November 25, 2012

He ain't heavy

This is the first time in the life of this blog that I have deleted the day's post.  There was nothing wrong with the entry save that the image had been used before and that's not our deal. I posted the earlier photograph because it‘s part of a show benefiting the homeless and hungry that opened Saturday night at my Taos Gallery, Wilder Nightingale Fine Art.   It seemed fair enough at the time.  

Instead what you see below is visual story for which you each can weave a narrative.  It might relate to the too common social maladies referenced above.  It has that feeling.  Or maybe it’s just a guy catching a smoke.  In any case, I found the sequence really evocative.  A lean lonely character rounds the corner of the Plaza Hotel in downtown Las Vegas, New Mexico, a newly lit cigarette dangling from his mouth.  He walks a dozen steps into the sunlight and squats down.  His hanging head speaks volumes to me. Heavy hearted, solitary and isolated are descriptors that come to mind.  That's some sad dude.  What do you see? 




5 comments:

Jim Rogers Photography said...

This striking series leaves me with so many questions about the main subject. An individual breaking out of the shadows of drugs and alcohol abuse into freedom from addiction? Or is it just a sad portrait of an individual totally beaten down by life? Thought provoking. And captured beautifully in B&W. Another great posting, Steve. Good work!

Steve Immel said...

Thanks Jim. I think that alcohol or drugs played a role in this vignette. The beaten down part is absolutely true. The lighting, by the way, was a horrible midday glare and with too little lens in the bargain. Photoshop to the rescue.

Charlie Christopher said...

Well, now I just need a little time to weep...a truly powerful series.
Thank you for this.

Steve Immel said...

Yeah. It kind of got to me, too. It makes you grateful that you've got people that love you.

Daryl A. Black said...

It is much more common to see of series of sports images, frame by frame, than it is to see a single person with a bigger than life backdrop. A great idea, Steve, and perhaps the wall is life itself to the man, both the positive and the negative.