Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Sometimes Ya Win, Sometimes Ya...


Mt. Rushmore- S. Banos

As a photographer, whenever you arrive somewhere of special significance, somewhere you've always dreamed of seeing- you, of course, want to get a picture to remember it by. Not just a picture- hell, you can get any number of perfectly good picture postcards anywhere, but one you can actually stick in the ol' portfolio. Something halfway unique, something that puts your particular stamp on it. Sometimes you win, and sometimes, well... ya just don't. Of course, having enough time (a luxury most of us don't get) increases your chances. That said, I've been to Paris a few times and have yet to get a decent shot that includes Le Tour Eiffel- sometimes it's just a matter of turning around for something else, or trying your luck elsewhere.

Mt. Rushmore is one of those places one dreams of seeing ever since you're a kid- something wonderfully surreal about it even before you're old enough to know the meaning of the word. Hitchcock shot a movie there as if just to prove it. So naturally, when I finally got to see it in person in '07, I was hot to take the picture to remember it by. First instinct was to go right into the viewing area along with the rest of my fellow tourists and take some Winogrand/Parr mutation with them in the foreground in some weird juxtaposition with the overbearingly large Presidential stares looming in the background. And again, given enough time, I probably could have done just that, but the fish just weren't biting, and alas, I didn't have all day. Next, I discovered there were trails leading closer to the giant busts where guides were leading tours which definitely offered some possibilities- but again, to no avail. It was time to go, and once again I was a beaten man. Time to hit the road again, but first the lieu... and a photo!

2 comments:

Eric Rose said...

Mt. Rushmore is just one of those places. I love it. My dad took some advertising photos for them way back in the 50's. I guess I could say I've spent many hours there over the years. But truthfully I can't say I have a photograph of it that really grabs me. It's just to "simple" if you know what I mean. I even flew over it once in one of those old Bell bubble choppers you see in the old TV series MASH. Great view, lousy photographs. Well at least nothing that hadn't/hasn't been done a million times. Hope you can make it back there sometime. Spend a day there without a camera and just let it speak to you. Then go back the next day and shoot. BTW love the vending machine shot. Perfect timing. Did the kid think you were some kind of creep lol.

Stan B. said...

Wouldn't mind going back at all, but far as I'm concerned, I got the shot! Which is more than I can say for... Monument Valley- been there a couple of times and try as I might, all I ever got was the proverbial scenic landscape.

PS- I'm sure more than just that one kid thought me a creep (since I took several shots of people entering and exiting)- but then I assume most people think me a creep, which is only natural since it's pretty much what I assume everyone else to be (part of growing up in NYC).