Blog Archives

no diving

 

On the way down the hotel hallway to get this photograph, I had a conversation with a gentleman whose keycard didn’t work. He was heading back to the lobby to get it fixed; he was philosophical about it, saying, “Oh, well. I like to walk.”

But then when I stopped to get this photo, I caught a certain look (of terror, or confusion) in his eyes. And I don’t think it’s my imagination that he walked a little faster…

Vega, Texas
photographed 8.31.2025

mt. olive

I was in Sudan (the town, not the country) the other Sunday morning. This church seems to be abandoned, but there was some preachin’ going on a block away in the town square. It was echoey and I couldn’t make out words but I knew it was a sermon from the cadence of it.

Oh, and also, I’d already driven by and seen it.

Sudan, Texas
photographed 8.31.2025

the darkness got there first, 4

Image 4: Hurt

But it’s not always going to be about you. Someone will be left behind. Someone will have to deal with their own particular transitions – personal, social, financial – that your departure generated.

Maybe there’s a headstone somewhere to anchor their change, like a giant paperweights, holding things down, keeping them were they are supposed to be, to make it look official. As though looking official will make it start to feel real, somehow.

Lubbock, Texas
photographed 8.30.2025

the darkness got there first, 3

Image 3: House of angels

The place is ready for you, probably long before you think you are ready for it.

But you see it, your eyes slide toward it every time you go by. You think about the way its neighbors are
the Goodwill store and a nail salon. At a point, you eventually notice that the hearse is always parked in
the same place, facing toward the street as if waiting to carry you to your last place.

Lubbock, Texas
photographed 8.24.2025

the darkness got there first, 2

Image 2: As good as it seems

But maybe, over time, rough and uncomfortable edges start to show. To be fair, they probably were there all along, but it took you some time to notice that your body felt weirdly disconnected. And it took even longer to realize that you actually felt taped together, held in place by things that were external to you, to who you thought you were.

Which leaves the question: who are you?

Lubbock, Texas
photographed 8.24.2025