A Day of Patriotic Devotion - Part II
Eight years ago I attended Trump's first inauguration and created a little photo story about my adventure. The conceit was that I'd drive around Appalachia on my way to D.C. and juxtapose pictures of rural America with whatever would be going on at the inauguration. It was a nice idea but I don't think the work was successful.
Now the nightmare is recurring. I was not happy, to put it mildly, that Trump was once again elected and I understand that it is likely the end of the relatively free U.S. we've known in our lifetimes so far and a huge setback for the world outside the U.S., and ultimately threatens the continued viability of the human race as the climate disaster unfolds over the coming decades. Pretty grim stuff, right? But on the positive side, I thought I'd have the opportunity to rescue my project by bookending the old work with some photos from the second inauguration and another trip through Appalachia, this time with a visit to J.D. Vance's family's neck of the woods.
But of course Trump fucked up that one good thing that could have possibly came out of the disaster by canceling the public's access to the inauguration and the parade, with the lame excuse that the weather forecast called for a typical day in late January, pretty much exactly the same as it had been eight years earlier, warmer actually. So rather than motorcades and riot police and military folk marching and throngs of Trump supports and protesters, there were just a few of the more hardcore nutcases milling around various parts of D.C. Photo-wise, I got basically nothing.
And for that I had to listen to their psychotic shit. I heard several people going on about Hillary's emails. I shit you not. And they were very angry about it, practically spitting that the bitch would pay for those emails now that Trump was back. Another guy was in a rage, yelling at the top of his lungs something about Kamala's titties and how Biden voters were going to pay. An old guy in a top hat and a lot of other Trump propaganda on his clothing and accessories was asked what changes we could expect from Trump and he said that we everybody would be happy from now on and everyone would have high paying jobs and cheap healthcare. I got stuck in a security line and couldn't tune out a particularly abject loser pontificating about how a tolerant society was a dying society and how Trump would restore intolerance to make us great again. A pro-Trump preacher with a microphone was giving a sermon about how God hates liars and all the lying Democrats would burn in a fiery pit in hell for eternity. Jesus Fucking H. Christ what a bunch of sad, sick morons. Someday a real rain will come... But for whom?
The trip was great otherwise. The weather was really special all the way through, from rain to snow to sub-zero temperatures. And I saw old friends and made new friends, I loved just about every minute of it.
By the way I see these things, I think the above shot is easily one of the best landscapes I've ever managed to photograph. It rained all day on top of a heavy layer of snow resulting in rising mist and fog that rolled through the valleys and wisped its way through the forests lending the landscape a palpable atmosphere that my black and white camera was built to capture. If I had driven the truck instead of the Prius I probably would have abandoned the D.C. trip and stayed in Kentucky for as long as those weather conditions prevailed. But the Prius is horrible in snow and ice and I couldn't do much at all, so I stuck to the original plan. And I did get some regular shots of Vance's home county. It's a hell hole.
I'm not being highly selective to make it look bad, finding little pockets of ugliness and poverty among the middle class subdivisions and MacMansions like I'd have to do in Indiana or western Kentucky. It was pretty much all like that, and much of it a whole lot worse. And I got really bad vibes. Like much of rural America lately, people were paranoid and afraid. Two separate guys in pick-up trucks followed me around at different times while I was walking. I had lunch in a Main Street diner and everyone was horribly uptight. And it's not like I stuck out all that much. I was dressed like typical blue collar worker with steel-toed work boots and a Carhartt-type jacket. If you haven't been out in rural America lately, it's really getting bizarre.
The fog that was great for landscape photography was very stressful for driving through the mountains. And then there was a winter storm warning for heavy snow the next day. I was really wishing I'd taken the truck, but I had adequate clothes, a shovel, rubber traction thingies to put under the tires if I got hung up, and plenty of drugs and alcohol, so I wasn't going to let a weather forecast stop me from dinner plans I had in Baltimore. I erred to the side of caution by arriving many hours early instead of going into D.C. for most of the day like I'd originally planned. So I hung out in Baltimore and randomly explored the city as the sleet and snow came down. Had a great time.
That's a graffiti artist working in Graffiti alley.
That was in a little arts district that was significantly more rough that typical big city art districts. I walked around for a couple hours, took a few photos and had a drink in a neighborhood bar.
The bar was actually busy, but I hung out in this Twin Peaksy style back room and did a bit of writing.
After leaving the arts district I drove around randomly and came across some neighborhoods straight out of The Wire. I even saw two "corners" where drugs were being sold, and lots of boarded up row houses like Hamsterdam.
It ended up not snowing all that much and after a great time with friends I got back safely to the AirBnB, then slept in a bit and went to the Mall to see the Trump shit show I described above and meet a photographer friend for lunch and a walk around D.C.
Afterwards, I grabbed a Shawarma and headed for the hills, or Mountains in this case. I was planning on driving to Hagerstown or maybe Morgantown and getting a cheap hotel for the night, but I heard the weather report and there was another winter weather advisory, this time for for sub-zero temperatures. I love sub-zero temperatures and fortunately I remembered the oil refineries in Ashland, Kentucky just across the border for West Virginia. I'd driven by there many times over the years and often stopped and took a few photos as they are spectacular as midwestern oil refineries go, and I realized they would be really special if the temperature were down around zero, so I drove straight through and got there about 2:30 am. It looked like armeggeddon coming over the hill. Something about the crisp cold air (tiny frozen water particles I think) make oil refineries look spectacular. The camera is set to use a Velvia film simulation, which is vivid as those things go, but otherwise I didn't do anything to enhance the colors. This is pretty much what it looked like.
If you want a photo tip, this is a good example of how you can think about something for years and do some preliminary work that doesn't turn out but you keep it in mind and then are able to recognize it when the conditions are right, and then you know the roads and possible views you can get to. Just pointing and clicking with a camera is no big thing these days. Ninety percent of photography is thinking and then getting to places that are difficult to get to.
Event though it was 3 am and the temp was right at zero, I figured there was a fair chance I'd draw attention as people at the plant work all night and for one of those angles I was stopping on an Interstate. That may or may not have been the case but after I left and got just a few miles into Kentucky a car came up fast behind me and rode my bumper for a few miles. That's not really unusual as people in moron states often tailgate even though you're the only two vehicles within 20 miles. But I was about to put on the brakes and slow down until he passed, when the car whipped around me and accelerated quickly up the road and out of sight. It was a state cop. I figured he was running my plates and trying to intimidate me into making some move that would give him an excuse to pull me over. Five minutes later he was on the side of the road no doubt clocking me as I passed. Pro-tip people: cruise control is your friend. And I must say that I really appreciated the professionalism of the Kentucky State Police. He apparently felt that he actually needed a reason to pull me over and eventually let it go when it became obvious I wasn't going to provide him with one. Most Indiana cops just pull you over with some bullshit excuse if that's what they want to do.
Anyhow, fun times. Though I fear there's going to be something of a zombie apocalypse ahead. Thinking back to the Trump morons on the mall, it may already be here.
If you've got this far, you must have some thoughts. Leave a comment, eh. Sign up your friends. Sign up your enemies. That'll teach them. Well then. Hasta next time...