“I went to a friend’s birthday party, dropped off my gift, they were going out so I went with them. They went to a fucking gay bar, after I got hit on a couple times I needed to leave. I live thirty miles away, so that’s a long ass drive, or six hours of walking…”
“So which are you going to do?”
“I’m trying to figure that out…”
Walking away from the lightrail, we pass by a couple people minding their own business. It gets desolate as we walk past some graffiti, we enter a back alley and I tell Greg I think this would make for a nice shot. He goes for it but informs me that I should be watching his back.
Speaking in whispers, we catch a couple pictures. As we walk further down the alley, Greg tells me he hears voices. I listen and hear them too, we decide to go around, and a conversation materializes about how we should carry a firearm when out doing street photography. I don’t think it’s a bad idea but Greg and I are not exactly the types to be comfortable with such things. The conversation we had earlier about taking out photography equipment insurance sounds a little more reasonable.
After taking a photograph of the empty lightrail tracks, Greg sets up a shot to catch the blur of a passing train. Sitting quietly, I hear the sound of footsteps behind me. A man stands there, almost as if to wait for me to acknowledge his presence. I break the silence by asking him how he is doing. “I’m just looking for a quiet place to fall asleep.” I tell him about the parking garage we just came from, and that there were a few dry stairwells where he might find refuge for the night. I ask him for a portrait, “Maybe if you gimme a couple bucks for a coffee.” I realize I have no cash, and am frustrated that I didn’t think to bring some ones for such opportunities. I tell him, and he says nothing, turns around and walks towards the garage.
Winding our way around the structure, we eventually get to the top. By this time there isn’t much in the way of rain, the freshly coated ground offers color rich cityscapes.
The ingenuity of nature is awesome. This fat little spider found success that I am sure his pals could only dream of by building its web around this parking garage light. Small bugs flew constantly around it, and he was working on one of them as we took pictures of it. I didn’t know spiders like this lived in Phoenix.
I find symmetry in the concrete structure, and we sneak through level by level, looking out on occasion. It starts to rain a little harder, how convenient that we have cover.
