Still Life – While Waiting

22 December 2011

I’ve been to Edmonton and back quite quickly in the last two days – through a snow storm on the way down and upon slick roads on the way back. I’ve brought my son home from University.

The image I present is one taken, standing in line waiting to pay for items needed in the long, upcoming night drive homeward. It reminds me that the concept of a subject’s duration is the core feature of still-life paintings and photographs.  Perhaps this image taken ‘while-waiting’ adds a new aspect to the concept of still-life. This image is a while-waiting shot – one that gives me something to do while our cashier scans each item of the customers ahead of me in queue. This shot precedes eight hours of driving, a time I would spend with my son listening to music, listening to a few of his ideas and a shared joke or two. And, through those times that he slept I’ve been able to make good headway in digesting a couple of lectures presented by John O’Donohue.