After the final credits rolled on one of the eight films I screened at this festival, and the crowd had mostly departed, I noticed one person hanging back, torn between going outside into the bright sunlight or returning to his seat for the next showing, which was to follow with the hour. I made this image of him poised at the point of exit, but going no further. The rows of empty seats in the darkened theatre glow faintly, while the lights on the wall overhead convey a colorful theatrical atmosphere at the left edge of the frame. The image is also rich in mood: darkly mysterious, yet with a touch of implied peril looming just ahead. It looks as if that burned out doorway, full of flare, is waiting to swallow him forever if he takes one more step.

I never bring my cameras with me to the movies. However, my cell phone was strapped to my belt, and I was able to make this image with its camera. Although many cell phone cameras are still optically challenged, this one was capable enough to make this kind of image.