OBSIDIAN: FROM BLUE TO ASH

My sense for cleanliness comes not just from my mother, but from the very industry in which I make a living.

Hospitality and service has conditioned me to be sensitive and desensitized to filth all at once.

Easily, I can stand near dumpsters, scrape picked-on grub from dinner plates into trash cans,

and not even flinch at the site of discarded rot.

Yet still, I shudder if there’s no soap. No sanitization.

I try my damnedest to bring that philosophy home.

But even I as a human can get sloppy…

Don’t let it get out of hand.

You’ve got to set the scene.

It’s how places are remembered.

I’m in a bowl swimming with settlements.

When I forget how Danger can come knocking on my door after a common thunderstorm,

Reality reminds me of that very quickly.

Especially when I step outside the comfort of my home.

It’s there. Old Man River. Father of Waters. Mississippi…

We’ve built a levee system around you, ports and oil refineries too.

Only so much monitoring can be done by those we elect; if they falter,

the closer Old Man River gets to claiming its rightful territory.

And nothing but greed lines the levees near the poor;

there aren’t any oil refineries anywhere in sight by the rich…

What happens when these refineries receive damage from their mistakes…?

From natural disasters…?

Well, they lose money.

As for what happens to the community’s inhabitants by proximity?

Damaged homes and a lifetime of health problems.

Despite being there generations before the companies’ inception.

Beneficial and disadvantageous.

The bicycle brings health, savings, fun.

Fear, too.

You’re faster than pedestrians, can dodge traffic, and feel the elements like this summer rain.

Slick streets. Dirty gutters. Potholes disguised as puddles. Jagged sidewalks.

Angry, impatient, ignorant drivers.

You could die at a moment’s notice.

So trust no driver when biking the city.

Technically, all photographs are shot through glass.

This material.

Doesn’t it come from sand?

And aren’t we organisms returned to Earth as dust?

Maybe the glass I’m looking through is made up of the same organic material of another person.

Those from before are captured through my eyes.

I remember this day vividly.

I was sitting at Lake Pontchartrain and embracing the turbulent winds from an oncoming storm.

The water danced ominously, chopping back and forth onto itself and crashing onto the rocky shore.

Why do storms calm me before they arrive?

Is it to soothe me until it’s too late to leave from its rage?

From middle school to now I’ve always lived in neighborhoods or towns surrounded by train tracks.

There wasn’t a day where trains didn’t pass by.

Usually it’d be freight but every now and then there would be an Amtrak zooming.

I have a love for walking the gravel because there’s thick overgrown grass that runs parallel to the rails.

Rocks, metal, and vegetation compliment each other perfectly.

Plants have such a strong grasp on my attention at times.

Especially when the aesthetic pushes the colors further.

Plants are alive.

Photography has shown me.

When exploring Bourbon Street I’m on the hunt for visuals of seediness.

Of the unkempt.

It’s the only place I’ve gone to in New Orleans where I want to capture cliche sights.

Sensuality.

Sexiness.

Even during the day there’ll be something to view.

Secrets from the night tend to appear.

Storefronts and sidewalks are my bread and butter.

I believe something from my ancestors resides within me.

I am responsible for keeping a record of the things I’ve seen.

How many young African Americans have had the dream of harvesting the visuals scanned by their eyes?

It’s my prerogative to put my thoughts and visions out there.

I am more than what the art world wants me to be.

I’ll use these eyes.

At a glance the subject may seem raunchy.

But when thinking about it critically, there’s more to it.

It’s a look into what men and women alike could perceive as attractive.

Or reveal qualities that the majority overlook.

Her body pulls our attention away from her most defining feature: the gap between her two front teeth.

Yes, there are plenty of examples of gap toothed beauty.

However, it should be noted how her toned body gives her gap additional allure.

Sexy aesthetics are all about giving just enough.

Give too much and it loses its edge.

Give too little and it won’t be enticing.

I’ll never forget the dread of roaming the streets of New Orleans on a summer day in 2024.

My undergarments would get all upturned and twisted, and my skin would be so clammy.

It wasn’t a good feeling at all with losing so much water.

Fans weren’t any help either.

The hot air went nowhere…

Global warming has to be real.

A long time ago I had started a habit of documenting news articles I happen to see with my own eyes.

This New York Times newspaper I had found at Hotel Saint Vincent’s Chapel Club spoke to me.

Maybe it’s the ramifications of challenging a government in today’s world?

Like…If they can’t reach you, they’ll go for your closest relative.

Even if they’re in another land.

The internet has no boundaries…for now.

My job has taught me how to pay attention to minor details.

And how to discern the difference between what is needed immediately or later.

Something that seems insignificant can be a clue to solve an issue or prepare for sudden mishaps.

This spill likely came from a customer or waitress who dropped their drink.

It surely makes for a nice visual study.

Photographing litter is the perfect chance to capture evidence of what the people in a place consume.

I study trash quite a lot.

Why do we buy so much?

And why buy what ends our lives much faster?

Some kid is crying about this abandoned purple monster toy.

Likely the child threw it out the car window and their parents didn’t turn around.

I took a photograph to immortalize him.

© 2024 Rhone SAMA

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OBSIDIAN: FROM BLUE TO ASH

MOJAVE: HEAT WAVE

COLD BLUE DERIVATIVES.

© 2024 Rhone SAMA

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