Yard sale, with wedding dress
I was on the far side of a parking lot that was across the street from this house, taking this picture, when I spotted the wedding dress hanging on the porch.
I have certain rules that I follow when I shoot, and one of them is that I never want to make a photo that could be construed as making fun of someone living in poverty, or of someone whose sense of decorum is different than my own; that’s why you’ll almost never seen photos of run-down houses that are currently occupied and why you’ll never see photos of people living on the street. I don’t mean to be judgey about people who DO shoot those things – it’s just not my thing.. So, generally, places like this go undocumented with my camera. But, that wedding dress! Over there on the porch, set aside from the other, regular clothes on racks in the yard – I just couldn’t resist.
Plainview, Texas
photographed 2.12.2016
Posted on August 24, 2016, in Photography and tagged 365 photo project, black and white photography, melinda green harvey, monochrome, NIK Silver Efex Pro 2, one day one image, photo a day, photography, plainview, plainview texas, postaday, texas, wedding dress, yard sale. Bookmark the permalink. 15 Comments.
One Day | One Image 
Since people can see what they want to see in anything, I can understand your concern. For rational people, however, it’s hard to construe this image as “making fun”.
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Thanks, Matt. I really do think about things like this, probably a lot more than I ought to.
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Perhaps, but I would venture that any more, you have to at least be aware that someone will interpret your photo in a way that’s most offensive to them. But ultimately, they’re the ones who decide to be offended, so it’s not on you.
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I agree – anyone can be offended by anything. I just want to be sure that I can defend (even if only to myself) my reasons for making the photograph.
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Love it and your concerns. If that dress could tell the story!
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I know what you mean! In my mind, it’s a sad story. But that’s as much the very idea of all those other clothes in the yard and the neighborhood as it is the wedding dress.
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I personally think it’s an amazing image, I think it tells a powerful story, definitely not ‘making fun’ of anything
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Thank you, Julie. I appreciate hearing from you.
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I like the image a lot but the four wheel drive vehicle looks like it is floating above the ground. Can you see that? I just wish it hadn’t been there at all, as it is a great shot with the glowing wedding dress!
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Maybe I should have waited a few minutes to make the shot, until that vehicle had floated all the way away! I didn’t even THINK about that…!
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He he! So you can see it now, or is it just me?
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I actually can’t UN-SEE it, now!
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Oops!
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I also like the way some of your more recent images have a tintype look to them. Very cool.
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Thanks, Kate – I’m heading in a bit of a new direction lately. I was starting to feel like I was in a rut. And even though I didn’t really enjoy the photography class I took, I did at least get some ideas of how to climb out of the rut.
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