Day 78. March 18.

Day Seventy Eight. March 18. Picture # 78. "Red, Cat". So much for edgy. I set the alarm for 5:30 AM today. I wanted to be down on Sixth Street as it awoke after the excesses of SXSW. I planned on rough edgy shots. Think high contrast black and white images of trash filled alley ways. Hung over street scenes with worn out people. Well all of those things did exist and I shot pictures of them. But life can surprise you some time. The city surprised me this morning with it's vitality. There were armies of workers cleaning out the alleys. Shop owners were restocking their stores as city workers were peeling the band stickers off of every surface. I stopped and bought a blueberry pastry and a microbrew rootbeer from a sidewalk cafe. As I ate my breakfast there was a steady stream of locals in and out of the shop. It was very nice just sitting there absorbing the feeling of rebirth and renewal that was so powerful that I felt there must be some way to capture it in an image. My internal filters were reset. I went looking for color and life. I noticed people. There were three happy young people sitting on the curb sharing a single sandwich. A man slowly walked along studying the deep cracks in the sidewalk stopping occasionally to fish a coin or a shiny trinket out with pliers. A sanitation worker dancing as he pushed a trash can of soapy water along washing what seemed like every object he encountered. A man fell in step with me and told me he had been watching me. I explained I had come down to document the aftermath of SXSW in pictures. He said he was there for the same reason but he just wanted to see it. He had no camera. We decided he had an obligation to show other people what he was seeing by using words. I wondered as he walked away, would it take him a thousand words for each picture I shared ? Lets hope so. There are many stories to tell. Canon Rebel XTI, hand held. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 135mm. f/5.6. ISO 1600. Exposure 1/250 second.