29.5.11

It's strange how the meaning of a photograph can change over time. Take the image below for example. DRUGS was made during my stint in California where I proceeded to make hundreds of images during those hot sweaty summer nights which are now all but a moist memory. It was the beginnings of my Urban Sprawl series and found myself in the glorious position of having oodles of freedom and not having to answer to anyone (that's what eight long years of working in darkrooms will get you). I was entertained, all be it briefly, by the neon sign and the hedge that looked like some kind of trippy cloud or magic mushroom. And so with a bit of shift and a good angle I came up with the DRUGS image in approximately three minutes of exposure. And then I had a burger...
So what had started out as a bit of a joke has now become a bit of a harsh reality for some with this image being used to promote drug awareness in parts of the USA.
Marvellous.

No comments: