Saturday, March 01, 2008

Photos on MySpace

I've just uploaded nearly a dozen additional photos to my MySpace site. (This link should take you directly to the photos, though your life will be vastly enriched and encoolend by hanging out on my main page and listening to all of "It's Bad You Know" by R.L. Burnside.) These photos are, for the most part, nothing that hasn't already been posted on this blog. (And I just realized you might not be able to see them at all unless you have a MySpace account and have signed in. Damn you, Rupert Murdoch!)

One thing hit me while posting them.


Photos like this represent a moment in time captured photographically. This was a Saturday afternoon in November of 2005 - November 12, to be exact. I had just given my 72nd pint of blood and had decided to stop and take advantage of the beautiful Fall weather and the still-bright leaves on the ground while coming back with my traditional post-donation Chinese food. As I was heading back to my car after taking the photos a friend's father stopped by and asked what I was up to. We chatted for a while. Then I went home and almost immediately posted the photo.

My realization today was that anyone can try to recreate this photo, if only they knew where to stand. Using Google Earth, I was able to work out the exact location of the intersection of Washington and Walnut Streets where I took this picture. To within a few yards, the picture was taken at 41° 11' 51.42" N, 75° 59' 48.77" W.

You may notice from the Google Earth image above (rotated to approximately match the photo's orientation) that to get this photo I needed to be standing in the intersection, risking my life for my art and your entertainment*. Should you decide to try to reproduce this photo and venture to this very spot, GPS tracker in one hand and camera in the other, be careful not to get your fool self run over. You have been warned.

*ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

2 comments:

Michelle HD said...

There is an alley down behind my house and I have no idea what its name is. Its not on Google Maps. Do you think it would be on Google Earth?

whimsical brainpan said...

If I recreate the picture I promise to look both ways before I take it. :-)