philly

Yesterday afternoon, I went to see an incredible photo show. It was Zoe Strauss's I-95 Show, year 8 of 10. I got there around 12.45p, 15 minutes before the show officially opened. I wanted to get there a little early to say hi to Zoe and see some of the show before the masses showed up (and on a lovely 70° day, they sure did). As an added bonus, I got to see the incredible streak of light which pours through the cracks of I-95 onto the floor below. It stretches the entire length of the "gallery space" just after 1p each year. It lasts all of 10 minutes or so before the sun moves out of position. It happens every sunny day, but only once a year during a world class art exhibition.

Before I finished walking through the 231 incredible images, I became a part of the show briefly. 231 images. That's a lot. Zoe shoots so much and so much of it is good, it's not the hardest thing to fill up 231 spaces in a show. I'd be lucky to fill 231 slots in a show with photos I'd mostly consider a 2 on a scale of 5. She fills the show with 4s and 5s. Take a look at this grid for her photos. That gives you a sense of the space. A 1/4 mile stretch of space approximately 150' wide.

Walking through the concrete pillars, you dance with the space. You waltz with the other people circling the pillars in clockwise and counterclockwise motions. Sometimes in sync with your temporary partner, sometimes in opposite directions. From east to west, from north to south the dance continues. Along the way, people walking their bikes; people biking through; people on skateboards; people in-line skating; neighborhood kids roving in packs; are all a part of the space.

And then you reach the north wall. #73 is also somebody's home. Two pillars over, and anchoring the show once again, is Mattress Flip which is, for me and many others, the quintessential "Zoe shot" and a good shot to gauge as to whether or not somebody will like the rest of her body of work.

There were a few shots I was sad to see not make it into the 2008 show like this one which was one of my favorites from the 2006 show I went to. But with 67 new photos in this batch (from last year's show which I missed), there are bound to be several great shots replaced by others. I was rooting for this shot and this shot to be there too, but no dice. There were so many incredible shots with so many incredible stories behind them. I'm always drawn to Monique's photos and story - the woman in the photos here and here. The first shot of Monique would be the other shot I'd pair with "Mattress Flip" to show people, if I had to choose just two, to give people a taste of Zoe's work.

Above are buddies Steve, Andi and Brad showing their scores. I had a great time hanging out with them at such an incredible show. I also saw Steve who posts on Brad's site, Jill with her hubby and a host of other photogs who were taking in the show. They all made off with some wonderful shots. It was a very hard choice to pick just one, but I did. I was thinking of this shot which had so much oomph to it. It just kicks you in the face with energy. I just loved the attitude and gaze in this shot which was one of the shots Zoe used to promote the show. That shot was one pillar over from the one I ended up snagging. I grabbed the Camden salt pile shot and slapped it on a big piece of cardboard (which was 1" not big enough!). A gorgeous laminated archival inkjet. I think it looks like an urban glacier. I love it. Lady approved too when I showed it to her after the bike ride home.

And a shot of the Wonder Woman herself signing the shot of Monique for a fan. That gigantic bulbous thing sticking into the frame at top is a boom mic. There was a crew of 3 or 4 there filming a documentary about Zoe.

A flickr set of Zoe's 2006 show. And a set of the 2008 show - more photos will be added later. And shots from people at the show will be in this flickr group pool - jump in!

I have so many photos to edit, but I had to get this writeup posted first. I'm indebted to the work Zoe's put into her craft. It's inspirational. Please follow her work on her blog and her flickr stream. You won't be disappointed. Now it's off to bed for an early next 3 days which will each be concluded with editing my backlog of photos starting from the week of April 26th.

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