Alex JD Smith's photostream

I was in Vegas (a place I find fascinating and unpleasant in equal measure) for a work shindig last November and, as I always do when I’m there, spent a day trying to make some visual sense of the place. The scale of things is weird, the light is misleading, and the sheer amount of detail is overwhelming. Composition is primarily the battle to impose some form of order on a largely disorderly world, and Vegas seems particularly intent on resisting this. It’s no wonder most people just say, ‘fuck it’, and get drunk instead.

I was clambering over the rocks in Carmel, at Lover's Point, when this old guy came by with his board, asked me the time, thought about it for a moment, and then worked his way back down to a spot where he could get back into the surf. I guess he had time for just one more.

I shot this wandering around my neighborhood back in January. It's a place I see everyday as I ride past on my way to work, and I was waiting for it to look like a photograph. On this day, I walked over and saw the van parked there, and it finally looked right.

Always carry your camera, kids.