“This is not my beautiful house.”
It was the part of town where a fairly high percentage of mean-looking dogs weren’t on a leash. Or a chain. I have an inherent fear of dogs anyway, and these particular animals looked like maybe they’d been waiting all day to enjoy a nice snack of photographer’s leg.
So, I stayed in the car to take this picture.
Which is why I heard the Talking Heads on the radio, singing “Once in a Lifetime” while I was shooting. And at the very moment I took this shot, I heard David Byrne sing, “This is not my beautiful house.” Coincidence or not – either way, I was greatly amused.
Slaton, Texas
photographed 3.9.2014
Posted on March 25, 2014, in abandoned buildings, architecture, Photography and tagged 365 photo project, abandoned buildings, architecture, black and white photography, melinda green harvey, monochrome, once in a lifetime, one day one image, photo a day, photography, slaton, slaton texas, talking heads, texas, this is not my beautiful house. Bookmark the permalink. 13 Comments.
One Day | One Image 
The moment I saw the photo, those lyrics came to mind as well. Same as it ever was…
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I think the DJ at the satellite radio station was watching me and chose THIS SONG because of THAT HOUSE.
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One of my favorite songs. And a fine photo, too.
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Thanks, Ken. It IS a pretty fine song, isn’t it?
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Reblogged this on The Legion of Door Whores.
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Wellll . . . it may not be David Byrne’s beautiful house, but it sure is one of yours! I also like the little tree in front talking to the big tree in back. Feels like cheating when you shoot from the car, doesn’t it. Don’t know why that should be. You obviously got just the right perspective on this from the driver’s seat.
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Yes, it absolutely DOES feel like cheating! In this case, the perspective would have been worse if I hadn’t been in a vehicle – I was shooting from a pickup that’s pretty high off the ground. (Also: I really was nervous about those dogs….)
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I particularly like the shadows from the roof boards but a striking image in all aspects.
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Thanks, Chris. Those shadows caught my eye from a couple of streets away, and lured me over….
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Life is full of extraordinary coincidences. It’s the shadows that make this image so strong, Melinda
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Thanks, Andy. I am pretty sure I laughed out loud when the song’s lyrics aligned so perfectly with what I was seeing.
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I like the shadow of a former roof embedded in the stucco – a porch roof, or even a whole addition, now gone. Dogs off leash in a small town reminds me of a place i stayed in the 70s. Very small town. Many many dogs, nearly feral. Dog fights at night, followed by shotgun blasts. Never seemed to reduce the dogs – the ones further out of town just filled the gaps. Worst part was having to use the outhouse at night. Worse than camping in black bear country.
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Where DO all those dogs come from? One of my routes to work goes through a long stretch of farmland, and there’s an area where there are always four or five mongrels standing by the road. When there was a death-by-car, there’d be a carcass AND four or five mongrels.
But never any bears.
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