Into the Haze
I rolled over to cancel the alarm on my phone; 5:30 a.m. on January 4th. The weather service issued an advisory to take care when driving—a dense fog enveloped us and would linger for much of the morning. I took it into consideration and left a little earlier for my 7am dentist visit. If you’re asking who would schedule a 7am visit to the dentist, you’re reading her words and she is not ashamed. Aside from the advantages of getting in and out check-ups and cleanings before the day actually begins, early engagements have other advantages. I’m sharing a glimpse of one of them now.
It felt good to let go of control and allow myself to lean into a moment of curiosity and play…
As I was driving, I began to float into a level of enchantment with the low-lying clouds. The fog painted everything in soft edges, obscuring everything receding a quarter mile or more beyond any given focal point—dangerous but beautiful. Suddenly, I was restructuring my morning in my head because I needed to visit some spots I always wanted to capture. The atmosphere was perfect and even though I only had my phone, it would have to do.
I arrived at the dentist office about 15 minutes early so I parked at a cleaners nearby to take a test shot. Examining the limitations of my phone’s sensor, I decided that on the way home I’d get a few snaps in when the sky brightened a little.
In the chair, the dentist remarked on the fog, and I expressed the desire to get out and take some photos. “I’m such a millennial”, I scoffed. She laughed and we got back to business. In a half-hour’s time, I was back in the car on the prowl. First stop, Fair Lane Motel.
I’ve passed this motel so many times over the years and was finally getting close to it. I parked my car next door at an office building, gleefully marching up a hill of soggy grass to the neon sign. Framing the shot, I patiently waited for traffic to get some additional interest (and light) in the road. I was only there for two minutes but walked away having scratched a pretty big itch. I allowed myself one more stop before heading back home.
The Grand Diner’s 50s-style facade stands out among Novi’s business parks and strip malls—it’s hard to not give it a nice long look. I can’t say enough how glorious it looked this morning, like something straight from a movie. The diner was just opening with only 3 or 4 patrons inside, a great time to get pictures.
These images won the morning for me. On the drive home, I found myself wishing I had a fancier tool to capture what I saw. Maybe, I could’ve gotten a perfectly exposed image to show off; but in reviewing these, I was grateful for all of the conditions that made these images possible. The photos I have could not look the way they do without the conditions and constraints of the moment. These pictures feel more true to that morning than they could ever feel. It felt good to let go of control and allow myself to lean into a moment of curiosity and play, even on the back of a dentist visit. This experience loosely reminds me of the concept of the ‘decisive moment’ coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson. The conditions were right to tell the story of the moment, all I had to do was be ready to capture it. I’d like more of that in my life, the flexibility and willingness to respond to meaning even when aesthetic ideals aren’t available.