I filmed most of my pictures in the middle of the night. At first I just liked the idea of things being shut down and closed and I thought that might be the theme of my project. Our teacher recommended I look at Brian Ulrich’s photos of abandoned department stores and malls; which I did and I found them to be spectacularly cool. I also thought about Todd Hido’s photographs where he photographed homes he had snuck up on late at night. What I love about late night city shots is there is the loneliness of abandonment combined with the promise of life in the future when the city wakes.
After reviewing my photos I kept coming back to the guy sleeping at the bus stop. I liked the idea of him dreaming of escaping his life in his imaginary car. Driving to a beautiful hotel to spend the night and awaking to a new job and a new life. But quickly he starts to come back to reality and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, whereby he realizes that his immediate needs are to find something to eat and drink along with temporary shelter. The fact that most of the places he looks at in his dream are closed is symbolic of the fact that much of the world is largely closed off to him.
Visual Literacy 105-006 