Wash the Day

It seems like everybody around here is a little grumpy today. Everybody wants to get everywhere before we have to be whisked away to our next destination, before our pre-planned activity, followed by a critique. There's a lot of time passing by and not a whole lot of pictures being taken. For my project, specifically, I have very little problem photographing the trailers on the outside. The disconnect begins when I want to get inside the trailers. I'm not going to pound on these peoples' doors at 7:15 in the morning, demanding that they let me invade their privacy. Chances are they're at work, or if they aren't at work, they're probably planning on sleeping.

Another thing is that these peoples' lives don't stop and start at our discretion. I don't imagine they're thinking to themselves, "Those Minnesotans are coming, I better take the week off to better facilitate their shooting schedules." What would we be doing if we weren't on vacation? We'd either be at work, school, or home, taking advantage of what little time we already have with our families.

One thing I've really been struggling with most of all, though, is trying to figure out what my responsibility is to people that are taking this class for the first time. Do I fight tooth and nail to get to where I want, even though I have already recieved a grade for this class? Is it nescessarily ethical for me to edge out other people to get my shots? I woldn't feel right if somebody was short-changed because I absolutely had to take the group off the beaten path and use up all the good sunlight so that I could get a few more shots.

I'm now seriously considering shooting for my public telephones series while I'm down here, too, just so I can have a break from the trailers and all the absurdity surrounding them. At the end of the second day of shooting, I'm already feeling down about the project. This has the makings of a great week.

No pictures tonight. Maybe tomorrow?