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July 21, 2003
No, it's not a jet engine falling from the sky.
From Pavement Terror:
Briefly, a few years ago I had a delivery job in Southampton, England (I won't say what I was delivering or for whom). It was very boring and badly paid but I soon found a way of livening it up. I discovered that the van I had to drive could very easily be persuaded to produce very loud, frightening backfires as and when I wanted it to (I'm not telling you how, find out for yourselves) and as I've always been keen on photography, I tried an experiment.I mounted a camera, pointing backwards, from the back window of the van, I hid it behind a retractable black cloth shutter and operated it with a cable-release long enough to be operated whilst driving. I would make the van backfire and photograph the frightened mayhem I'd created as I drove past.
These photos capture the combination of surprise and pain that a loud noise elicits, the way that people instinctively begin to assume a fetal position (head tucked, arms and legs pulled in). I wish there were also photos of the laughter and relief that usually follows such an incident, as you realize you're not being shot at or a jet engine isn't falling out of the sky on your head.
I can't decide whether these photos are beautiful or cruel.
[Link via the Wooster Collective]
Posted July 21, 2003 06:06 AM