03-OCT-2018
It never moved, Twin Falls, Idaho, 2018
Still photography and statues share a lot in common. Photographers can stop a subject in time forever. And a statue is, from its inception,remains utterly still forever, as well. When I came upon this scene, I was drawn by the utter stillness of the Dalmation sitting placidly at the base of a small tree. After making this image, I suddenly realized that this dog never would move -- I was looking at a metal statue. The meaning of my picture changed for me at that moment. The folks who placed this lawn ornament in front of their house obviously enjoyed the incongruity it creates when others realize their dog is not real. My image compounds the joke through incongruity, as well.
07-SEP-2018
Dining or dreaming? The Mariposa, Sedona, Arizona
This restaurant offers its patrons a spectacular view of Sedona's famous "red rock" scenery. These people are dining on a summer evening in an open-air space, surrounded by a surreal view that would seem impossible to take for granted. At dusk, a setting sun paints the panoramic sweep of ancient cliffs in light, shadow, and color. Misters at the edges of the roof make a warm evening much cooler, and add a gauzy effect to the scene. My photograph contrasts this mass of diners, and their servers who walk among them, to the incredible scenery that lines the horizon in the background. The image offers a frame within a frame to guide the eye, and the pair of servers at left and right create a base for the triangular composition that draws the eye to the pointed peak in the background.
Everyone appears to be absorbed in their food and conversation. None seem to consider what surrounds them at this moment, except for us who view this photograph. We can see both diners and scenery at the same time, and it is this contrast that brings incongruity to this image. Dozens of these diners, surrounded by the stuff of dreams, may be taking the spectacular view for granted at this moment, yet many of them will likely walk away remembering the experience.
07-SEP-2018
Taking art for granted, Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village, Sedona, Arizona
Incongruous images are often created by photographing people who appear to be oblivious to their settings. I spent an hour roaming the squares, parks, and galleries of this well-known arts and crafts village looking for such an opportunity. I found these folks seated on a bench, engaged in conversation. They are probably well aware that they are seated almost underneath a huge bronze sculpture of a rearing stallion, yet at this moment they seem more interested in speaking with each other than looking and responding to the art that surrounds them. The horse appears to be about to crush them beneath its hooves and they pay it no heed. They are oblivious -- indeed impervious -- to the implied danger looming above them. The horse is huge, while they are small in scale. They appear to be utterly unconcerned because they take their surroundings -- a place full of art - for granted. They can't see what we, as viewers, see here. We are amused, while they are not.
07-SEP-2018
Hummingbirds frozen in time and place, Sedona, Arizona
This image began with an attempt to simply capture a pair of hummingbirds lunching at a group of feeders. I needed not only to stop motion and freeze them in time -- I also wanted to integrate the birds into the design of the photo itself. I needed to place a bird on each side of the frame in order to unify the image, creating a diagonal composition leading the eye through the feeders from one bird to the other. Incredibly, I caught the bird on the left as it was incongruously suspended in space behind a feeder, making it seem as if it is caught within it. Obviously luck plays a huge role in such an incongruity. I shot fifty images of this scene and later found this image among them. Because of this incongruity, this photograph was the only one of them that goes beyond description, and instead stimulates the imagination of the viewer.
13-FEB-2015
Jesus Saves, Cave Creek, Arizona, 2015
A giant boot promoting an evangelical concept dominates this craft shop parking lot. The motto seems incongruous when seen emblazoned upon a classic cowboy boot. The massive scale of the boot itself offers still another incongruity. The huge boot momentarily lives in the shade, and contrasts to the illuminated sunflowers arrayed behind it. The image offers a whimsically symbolic view of contrasting incongruities and cultures.
11-JUN-2014
Faceless, El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park, Santa Barbara, California, 2014
The buildings of this Spanish military outpost, dating back to 1782, have been either restored or reconstructed. As I ended my tour, I entered a room that was a family’s living quarters, and this incongruous vision greeted me. This life sized painting fills a board six five feet tall. The figure itself is striking in its color and gesture. A hole appears where the face should be, which tells us that the painting is there for to visitors take “selfies” of themselves transformed into an 18th century woman. My photograph of this figure without a face tells an entirely different story. It becomes a painting of a person forever lost to memory. The painting throws a large shadow on to the wall behind it, making the hole where the face should be darker and more ghostly and incongruous than expected. I also placed the figure off to one side of my frame, implying that the painting stands alone within an utterly empty room.
17-OCT-2013
Juxtaposition, Central Park, New York City, New York, 2013
I was concentrating on photographing a lone figure seated atop a massive rock outcropping. She was lost in her work, and never noticed the male dog relieving himself in the foreground. The juxtaposition of the woman and the dog express the vast range of activity and opportunities available to the millions of New Yorkers who cherish this vast park in the middle of Manhattan. The woman has taken over the huge rock, while the dog marks its own territory along the path below it.
12-FEB-2013
The cost of war, Andersonville National Cemetery, Andersonville, Georgia, 2013
More than 15,000 Union prisoners of war are buried here, many of them dying of malnutrition and disease at the notorious Andersonville Confederate Prison Camp within a space of only 14 months during 1864 and 1865. This massive toll is grimly expressed here by the rows of grave markers spaced only inches apart. So many died so quickly that burial space was sharply limited. I place these strangely compacted rows of graves in the foreground of this image, and incongruously contrast them to the normal spacing of later burials placed in soft focus, and moving in a different direction, within the background. I organized this image in layers, beginning with the sharply focused grave markers in the foreground, and gradually fading them into softer focus as they recede. A lone tree separates the rows of older markers from the newer burials behind them. In the distant background, a red wall encloses the acres of stones, separating them from a stand of trees. This is a scene of death juxtaposed with life, a poignant reminder of the savage war that tore the United States apart 150 years ago.
07-FEB-2013
Double Take, Miami Beach, Florida, 2013
This vintage limousine, generally parked in front of a Miami Beach hotel, draws attention to itself (and its owners) in several incongruous ways. It dates back to another era, and is painted a bright yellow. A scruffy man with a cigarette hanging from his lips and a rumpled fedora upon his head, stares at us from its driver’s seat. Tourists stop to pose for pictures with the car and its incongruous driver, yet the driver never acknowledges them. Is he a street performer, or is he a mannequin? By moving in to stress the man, rather than the car itself, I dare my viewers to answer that question.
10-FEB-2013
Pink Elephant, near Inverness, Florida, 2013
The life sized elephant stands along side of Highway US 41 – the Tamiami Trail – to draw attention to a local auto repair business. It is a double incongruity in itself – an animal that never moves, and is painted a shocking pink. Its sheer scale never fails to draw the eye of passing motorists. We stopped and I walked across the road to place the pink elephant in a layered composition that places it into a context. A layer of weeds leads to the highway itself, and then to a layer featuring the elephant, advertising signage, and an assortment of cars and trucks backed up next to a forest.
15-FEB-2013
In tribute to Bobby, Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia, 2013
Robert Tyre “Bobby” Jones Jr. was a lawyer. He was also the most successful amateur golfer the world has ever seen from 1923-1930. In his final season, he won all four of golf’s major championships, defeating amateurs and professionals alike. During his brief seven year career, he played in 31 major tournaments, winning 13 of them, and finishing in the top ten 27 times. He later helped found the Masters Golf Tournament and the course on which it is played each year. Jones died from a crippling spinal disease in 1971, and his fans have honored his memory by converting his gravesite to a putting green (note the incongruous putting cup within the shadow adjacent to the grave marker.) There are numerous golf balls (along with other mementos) also incongruously in residence here, many of them gathered into the long shadow cast by the marker. The greatest golfer of the Roaring 20s has not been forgotten.
08-FEB-2013
Freeloaders, Naples, Florida, 2013
The shelter at the very end of the Naples Fishing Pier offers an incongruous gathering place for both man and bird. At sunset, this shelter becomes a busy place, as fishermen fish, tourists stroll, and seagulls and terns wait patiently for handouts from both. I abstract my image, placing the sun behind the shelter’s roof, and stress the row of seven birds poised for potential free snacks. By comparing that row of small birds on the roof to the row of large human heads gathered below them, I create an incongruous juxtaposition of silhouetted shapes.
13-FEB-2013
Bringing a ghost to life, Rose Hill Cemetery, Macon, Georgia, 2013
This tomb of a young girl was haunting in its own right. For 150 years, the sculpture marking her resting place has been tortured by the elements. Industrial pollution has all but blackened her face, chest and arms, bringing the spectral whites of her eyes to the fore, and creating a ghostly presence. As a final touch, a visitor has placed the blossom of a red artificial flower in one of her hands. The image is incongruously jarring to both the eye and the mind. It virtually brings a ghost to life before us. When processing the picture, I had to decide between leaving essentially what was a greenish mossy-looking image in color because of the importance of that incongruous red flower, or converting the photo to black and white to make it far more symbolic and ghostly. However the primary incongruity of this image is rooted in the contrasting artificiality of the red flower. I decided to leave just this flower in color and convert the rest of the image to black and white, thereby making the photograph even more incongruous. I rarely use such decorative post-processing gimmicks in my imagery. I find them often self-conscious and precious. However this image called for such handling, because my processing technique becomes part of the message itself. (Film director Stephen Spielberg effectively used a similar technique in his black and white film “Shindler’s List,” when he retained only the pink color of an innocent child’s coat as she was being herded towards execution in a concentration camp.)
08-JAN-2013
In Marilyn’s shadow, Palm Springs, California, 2013
Scale incongruity takes center stage in downtown Palm Springs, as Seward Johnson’s 26-foot tall painted iconic bronze sculpture of the late actress Marilyn Monroe dwarfs a pair of tourists standing beneath her billowing skirt. The vivid late afternoon colors add a surrealistic touch to the scene. The man and woman were posing for their own picture – the man tries inspect the underside of the huge skirt, while the woman attempts to cover his eyes. The huge poster on the building in the background adds a sense of place, while the feathery clouds swirling overhead echo the curves in the massive skirt.
12-AUG-2012
Floating the dog, Monterey, California, 2012
I have seen and photographed many people walking their dogs all over the world, but this was the first time I ever observed a man floating a dog. He skillfully paddles an elongated surfboard, maneuvering his German Sherman Shepherd between two ducks floating on the surface of Monterey Bay, neither of which paid any attention to the incongruous sight. I made this image just as the dog cast a hungry eye one of the ducks. The situation is incongruous, not only because the dog is floating instead of walking, but also because of the brace of innocent ducks flanking this scene.
12-AUG-2012
Harbor Seal and Jellyfish, Monterey, California, 2012
While I was standing on Monterey’s Fisherman’s Wharf, a large California Harbor Seal surfaced and created a set of figure eight ripples as it slowly glided past me, just below the surface of Monterey Bay. Its head was nearly even with a jellyfish I had been photographing as it drifted alongside the pier, just below the water’s surface. The scale incongruity between the two sea creatures is apparent. An instant after I made this image, the harbor seal suddenly lunged towards the jellyfish. I was able to make an image of that as well, but all I could record was a huge splash of water. Both harbor seal and the jellyfish vanished along with it.
11-AUG-2012
Street performer, Santa Cruz, California, 2012
This accordionist is costumed lavishly, an incongruity in itself. What makes this image even more incongruous is the black mask and cardboard mustache that adds much to his bizarre characterization. I moved my vantage point so that his head fits into the softly focuses glowing archway behind him, creating the effect of a spotlight.
25-NOV-2011
In step, Valletta, Malta, 2011
The most interesting, if strenuous, way to enter Valletta is to gradually climb a series of staircases that rise from the harbor to the city, which sits atop the hill that has made it an effective fortress over the past 500 years. This particular staircase seems to incongruously come to a dead end, but that is illusory. Two more staircases are hidden from view here – they rise from the top landing on both the left and the right. A woman carrying a container has just descended one of them, and will soon climb the other. I caught her in my 24mm wideangle frame just as she reached its middle – giving the image its sense of scale incongruity. The characteristic golden hue that gives Valletta much of its identity seems to overwhelm her.
27-NOV-2011
Performance, Barcelona, Spain, 2011
Barcelona’s La Rambla is known for the street performers that earn a livelihood along its curbs. This “living statue” seemingly carries on a cell phone conversation in absolute silence. The green and white paint that covers everything but his phone is an incongruous touch, making into a figure of “living concrete.” I focused closely on him with my 400mm telephoto lens to bring up detail, and remove all conflicting details from the frame. I wanted to make a “silent” image, and I think I’ve achieved it.
19-NOV-2011
Athletic planters, Acre, Israel, 2011
An artist has decorated the front of his house or studio with two pairs of athletic shoes nailed to a board. Just displaying two pair of shoes on the wall of a house is an incongruity itself. But the artist goes on to add still more incongruities– he or she paints the shoes in the primary colors of red and yellow, and arranges them not by pairs but by color contrast. As a final incongruity, the artist has turned the shoes into planters – filling them with dirt, and displaying a grass-like plant in each. Even the wall becomes part of the art – the yellow limestone, although patched and filled, harmonizes with the colors mounted on its stones. I moved in with my 24mm wideangle lens to make the shoes as large as possible, yet still get all four of them, as well as the yellow wall, into my frame.
19-NOV-2011
The hidden horseman, Acre, Israel, 2011
This large sculpture of the mythological winged horse Pegasus was on sale in Acre, just one of many figures in a yard full of ornamental décor for sale. What makes it incongruous is the rider, whose head is thrust deeply into an overhead palm tree. The classically draped rider not only looks backwards – it also seems to be lost in the greenery. I found such an incongruous juxtaposition amusing, and shot the picture from an angle that intensified the rider’s predicament.
14-SEP-2011
Mannequin keeper, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
Nearly every clothing store in Cuenca uses mannequins at the door to attract attention to their products. In this image, a store employee is positioning the mannequins in a grouping, and in doing so, she becomes part of the arrangement herself. Her vivid red sweatshirt meshes nicely with the colors around her, and her impassive expression helps her blend incongruously into the grouping.
06-SEP-2011
Comparison, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
A somber woman, hands pressed close to her chest, peers out from her door upon a rain-swept street, and in doing so, she tentatively extends one foot over the doorsill. A poster in the adjacent doorway of a shoe store draws a comparison to the figure of an exuberant model that appears to be dancing. While considerably smaller in scale, the dancer seems to be urging the staid woman at left to unclasp her hands and enjoy herself. The extent of that woman’s exertion seems to be extending a toe to take the measure of the rain; she remains incongruously oblivious to the comparison.
13-SEP-2011
Art imitating life, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
A mobile phone company’s poster, featuring a playful child, makes a perfect backdrop for real child’s curiosity, along with his observant mother and his younger sibling. I liked the way the mother and baby are tucked into the form of the poster child kissing the balloon, while the real child bends over to echo the curve of the big red sphere behind him. The scene blends art with life seamlessly and incongruously.
20-SEP-2011
Changing times, Checa, Ecuador, 2011
A beauty shop and a parked motorbike offer an incongruous environment for a elderly village woman dressed in a traditional Andean costume and hat who passes her days by sitting on the square of this small village just outside of Cuenca. My eye travels between the picture of the glamorous model on the beauty shop’s hanging signage, and the impassive expression of the lady who takes possession of the steps below it. The sleek motorbike adds a contemporary counterpoint to the incongruous comparison.
22-SEP-2011
Mannequin, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
Mannequins are often incongruous, this one particularly so. I exposed on the sculpted white face, allowing the richly colored and textured costume to fade gradually into the dark doorway behind it.
The face and feet seem to be detached, floating in space, bringing an ethereal touch of additional incongruity to the image. The green column that rises beside the mannequin seems to stretch the image vertically, adding to the illusion.
22-SEP-2011
Mime, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
This mime seems to be precariously balanced on a ledge of Cuenca’s cathedral, an incongruous position in itself. Actually he gives the illusion of cleverly floating in space, well away from the wall, with only the large pole for support. His brilliantly colored clothing, featuring the primary colors of yellow, blue, and red, add a touch of gaiety to the image. I also include a woman holding a small child, seated at the base of one of the cathedral’s doors. Her pink pants seem to glow in response to the mime’s performance. A closer look at the woman, however, finds her in tears. She holds a handkerchief to her face. She sits between the randomly placed graffiti on the door, and the small table holding a donation can. She seems to be in great distress, an incongruous response to the illusionary performance overhead.
24-SEP-2011
Charity, Cuenca, Ecuador, 2011
A steady stream of women, wearing the traditional Panama Hats of the Andean Highlands, came to the door of this perfume store to claim a few coins from this charitable shopkeeper. I found the juxtaposition of the impoverished women and the glamorously photographed figures featured in the shop’s window display, to be extremely incongruous.
19-JUL-2011
The beach, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, Arizona, 2011
This beach is part of a work of public art in the Phoenix Convention Center. It is an incongruous work in itself, since the beach is set in a desert environment with no water in sight. Among the beachgoers is a fellow wearing flippers who is incongruously half buried headfirst in sand. Behind the beach, an escalator carries convention visitors from floor to floor. In this image, a conventioneer adds still another incongruous touch as juxtaposition to the work of beach-art. I link him to the beach scene by emphasizing his illuminated hand, which is aimed directly at the hand of the beach figure in the foreground.
26-JUL-2011
“One floor up more highly,” MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts, 2011
The bizarrely incongruous juxtaposition of blue Styrofoam boulders before a blue painted window and blue and red walls, is part of an installation by the German artist Katharina Grosse that fills a huge section of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Grosse’s art is intended to disrupt the logic of its surrounding architecture, while at the same time drawing attention to it. My image is intended to stress the artists message: migrating from the soil onto bits of walls and windows, her paint marries actual space to an illusion, asking viewers to understand that one is no different from the other.
28-JUL-2011
Reflections, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 2011
I merge a window display featuring a menacing figure representing some kind of contemporary vampirish entertainment into a reflection of Pittsfield’s staid early 20th century business architecture.
The eras clash incongruously here. I used my own shadow in the window to bring out the figure.
20-APR-2011
Mountain Lion, Tortilla Flat, Arizona, 2011
The walls and ceilings of the saloon in Tortilla Flat are papered with autographed dollar bills and yellowing business cards. The heads of stuffed animals placed in strategic locations incongruously punctuate the décor – in this case a mountain lion bares its fangs at me from the rafters. Everything I include here is incongruous, and by limiting my frame to just a small fraction of the astonishing available clutter, I make this place seem even more bizarre.
20-APR-2011
The hanging, Tortilla Flat, Arizona, 2011
Visitors often do a double take when they visit the old saloon at this former stage stop in Arizona’s Apache country. A body hangs over its entrance, a noose around its neck. I photograph it from down below, using the deep blue sky as background. The low vantage point makes it even more incongruous by removing much of its surroundings.
21-DEC-2010
Comparisons, Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, 2010
There are always expressive photo opportunities awaiting us in harbors around the world. I enjoy standing on the deck of a ship as it enters a teeming harbor, and finding objects that I can juxtapose to express incongruous ideas. Our cruise ship approached a freighter, already anchored in Salvador de Bahia’s harbor. It had a bright red hull, which floated on a deep blue sea. Two primary colors, compared side by side, create the context for the image. I saw a tiny blue fishing boat approaching, and I waited for it to ease just past the great red hull of the freighter. As it did so, I made this photograph, creating a second comparison, this time a striking scale incongruity.
21-DEC-2010
Hop, skip, and jump, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2010
Just before our own cruise ship departed from Rio’s harbor, a huge Spanish cruise ship pulled in next to us, its sides decorated with incongruously gargantuan painted figures of happy vacationers. Standing on the pier, I moved in on one of those figures, using a 24mm wideangle focal length. The four deck high figure appears to be leaping in joy. It has already jumped, and now must somehow leap over a rope that anchors the ship to the shore. By isolating the figure from the rest of the ship, I make it incongruous, and by including the rope that seems to block its path, I intensify the incongruous nature of this image.
09-SEP-2010
Orange couch, Mission Beach, San Diego, California, 2010
This couch has seen better days. It is not weatherproof either, yet it is parked outdoors on a green rug of artificial grass in the front yard of a beach cottage. I think the soiled towel protecting its battered cushions offers incongruous food for thought. Why is it there?
15-JUL-2010
Finding a taxi, New York City, New York, 2010
It is not easy to find an empty taxi at 5:30 pm on a hot summer day in New York City. I was waiting for one myself, and I was envious of this fellow who snared a cab while it was stopped in traffic only a few hundred feet away from me. As I made this photo, I realized how incongruous it was to see a human figure run into a street completely filled with traffic. Our imaginations see the scene as a flowing river of traffic, yet it is not. The traffic had to be stopped for a red light in order for him to make the dash and grab that door. (As for me, I caught a Third Avenue bus a moment later and made my way uptown just as quickly as this fellow did.)
15-JUL-2010
Foursome, Madison Square Park, New York City, New York, 2010
I saw an opportunity to express numerous incongruities in this image. A stroller for four seems so much more crowded than the normal stroller for one. The diverse nature of the image is incongruous to begin with, and probably implies that the huge stroller belongs to a daycare center of some kind. The fact that one child emphatically slumbers, while the others vary in their responses, is also strongly incongruous. (We also might also think about what might have happened to the missing sandal at lower left!) I abstract the Nanny pushing the stroller, leaving the viewer to wonder how she must be reacting at the moment. Finally, the bright red stroller dominates the image, and calls special attention to the sleeping child, who also wears red.
19-JUL-2010
The Family, West Dover, Vermont, 2010
This grouping of gravestones offers a family history, with six of the seven bearing the name of Humphreys. The incongruity arrives in the form of a flag that calls attention to the military gravestone in this image, the only stone here with markings that are invisible to us. It adds a poignant touch to this family plot, which contains the remains of people who lived long (nearly 100 years) to short lives (nearly 35 years). The stones, just as the remains below them, are inert, yet the grass and wild flowers continue to thrive around them.
16-JUL-2010
Puff, New York City, New York, 2010
I caught this smoker exhaling a puff of smoke that fills the lower half of his face. He limits his activity to smoking a cigarette, while just behind him, two advertisements teem with incongruous activity. A man standing in the shadows at right apparently is amused – he seemed to smile at me as I made this image.
20-JUL-2010
Snooze, Wilmington, Vermont, 2010
The artist who created this bench used an incongruous concept, painting figures that seem to be dozing upon its slats. I made an image of this incongruous bench from across the street, adding context for its location (a jewelry store), as well as the hanging basket of small flowers that completes a trio of primary colors present here: red, yellow, and blue.
27-JUL-2010
Information desk, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, Arizona, 2010
The hand to mouth gesture I captured here symbolizes puzzlement, while the dominant symbol in the image is a huge question mark. The man runs an information desk, and even when not providing information, he seems to be pondering unanswered questions here. I converted this image to black and white because the colors in the background were so vivid they competed with the sense of quiet thought I wanted to express.
02-JUN-2010
Marble lion, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2010
This marble lion stands in the vestibule of a gallery in Santa Fe. It would not be incongruous in its own right, however every night, the store locks the lion behind an iron gate. By shooting the lion through the gate, I show it as a caged beast, and its frozen roar becomes animated. The cage changes it from a piece of decorative art to an angry lion.
03-JUN-2010
Sharing, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2010
Two people don’t usually occupy one seat, but they do in this case. It was an incongruous situation. I found them sharing a rolling chair just across the street from Santa Fe’s Plaza. They noticed me shooting them, and during my first few shots, they grinned back at me in response. As I continued to shoot, they stopped laughing. Here, the man’s expression is normal, while the woman appears to repressing a smile. Their responses are essentially normal, down to the drink in hand, except for the incongruous fact that she is sitting in his lap.
22-MAY-2010
Namesake, Salmon, Idaho, 2010
Set alongside the Salmon River in Salmon Idaho, I found, appropriately enough, a sculpture of a life-sized bear confronting a group of leaping salmon. I noticed that someone had incongruously lodged a stone in the mouth of the lead salmon, and I moved in with my long telephoto lens to make it seem as if the salmon was incongruously offering the stone to the huge bear. The sculpture of the bear itself stands upon a bed of actual rocks, which are incongruously larger in scale than the “gift stone” borne in the gaping mouth of the fish. When choosing my camera angle, I carefully positioned the noses of both bear and salmon so that maximum tension flows within the negative space between them. All of these incongruities combine to symbolize the quirky nature of this small town that takes its own name from the river and the fish that inhabit it.
13-MAY-2010
Lamp, The Westward Ho, Phoenix, Arizona, 2010
An old ballroom, since converted to a recreation hall for the senior residents living in what was, some eighty years ago, Phoenix’s grandest hotel, now gets its illumination in any way it can. There are at least four incongruous deviations from the norm in this image: this lamp sits adjacent to a reading area, its shade askew. It is hooked to an outlet that soars well above of my frame. Meanwhile, the windows just behind the lamp are painted over, which shuts out natural light in a place where it might seem to be most needed. Two of these windows are cracked, allowing tiny threads of daylight to enter the room. Yet the folks who use this room for recreation and relaxation most likely never will notice these incongruities, but I did.
12-MAY-2010
Concrete Seat, City Hall, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2010
An image of a man reading a book is, in itself, not incongruous. Yet in this photo, that man happens to sit upon a concrete bench, while leaning as far back as he can against the edge of a concrete wall. A triangle of space appears behind his back as he stretches out to gain maximum stability. Totally absorbed in his book, he seems to defy the laws of comfort altogether – offering me a chance to make a decidedly incongruous photograph.
19-NOV-2009
Family portrait, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2009
I enjoy photographing other photographers at work. While on a shoot in Scottsdale with a tutorial student, we watched a commercial photographer shooting a family portrait on the picturesque lawn of the city’s civic center. This is a large family – this couple appears to have six children. Between shots, as the father turns to adjust an item of family clothing behind him, he inadvertently seems to place his elbow over the head of the family’s youngest member seated on his lap. Although the elbow simply caresses the oblivious infant’s head, in the context of this photograph it offers an incongruous counterpoint to what otherwise would be a routine event.
12-NOV-2009
Big Hogan, Monument Valley National Park, Arizona, 2009
Our Navajo guide took our group to an immense cave featuring a round hole in its ceiling, very much like the hole in the ceiling of a traditional Navajo hut, or hogan. This image offers ample evidence of its likeness to a hogan as well as its huge scale. I used a 28mm wideangle focal length to embrace both the tiny figure of our Navajo guide and the huge hole in the ceiling. There is a black trail flowing down the side of the cave, probably the result of erosion or staining. I matched the man and hole by connecting them with this black trail. The image is a stunning example of scale incongruity. Without the guide as a scale reference, we would not know how large this cave is.
14-NOV-2009
Ranch, Moab, Utah, 2009
One horse makes all the difference here. This is a large ranch, rich in natural beauty. But without the single horse as a visually incongruous reference, it would just be a literal rendering. There were many horses grazing in the pasture on the left, as well as a cowboy to manage things. All of my shots except for this one were diluted by their presence. For a very brief moment, all of the other horses moved down to the base of the pasture, allowing me to crop them out of my frame. Only this sole horse remained, giving us the incongruous idea that this glorious field is his and his alone, at least for a moment.
20-OCT-2009
Bookstall, Bucharest, Romania, 2009
The well-thumbed paperbacks were stacked in piles before duplicate copies of a poster featuring the head of a wise looking man very much in the thinking mode. I moved my camera lower to bring the books up to eye level to further abstract the posters, and shifted my vantage slightly to allow the nose, mustache and mouth on one of the posters to show between two of the book stacks. In doing so, I create an image that speaks of bookishness in a whimsically incongruous manner.
15-OCT-2009
Tourists, Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, Turkey, 2009
Two short people share a very high bench after hours of touring the massive palace of the Ottoman sultans. Their feet do not touch the ground, yet they seem unaware that this fact miniaturizes them and peels away the years. It is an incongruous relationship, and makes us wonder, perhaps, if the rulers created such benches to symbolize their own superiority over those who had to sit on them.
23-OCT-2009
Smoke, Cismigiu Garden, Bucharest, Romania, 2009
It is not the act of smoking that makes this image incongruous. It is the volume, concentration, and position of the smoke at the moment of release that makes it unusual. This man was sitting in the perfect spot for such a shot – at the end of a row of benches, beautifully backlighted before a dark background. This allows the smoke to become translucent and thus more visible Using a long 400mm telephoto focal length, I shot many frames of this man as he smoked, and eventually knew exactly when he would exhale. I pressed the shutter on this shot a moment afterwards, while a cloud of smoke still shrouds much of the man’s head.
23-SEP-2009
No laughing matter, Toronto, Canada, 2009
The half smile that fills this frame seems to mock the anxiety of a driver who I found bending over his car’s engine. The red rays of the smile may envelope the red car, but can’t make it run. The mouth in the wall mural, which is almost a block long in size, is incongruous in scale, as well as in its number of molars. I cropped the smiling mouth, along with its field of rays, in half in order to make the car and driver larger – it is so large that nothing is lost in the bargain.
I am indebted to the delightful pbase photographer Jude Marion, (judespics) who so kindly spent an afternoon shooting with me in Toronto, and took me to Queen Street where I photographed this unique scene.
21-JUL-2009
Missing, Castle Hill, Ipswich, Massachusetts, 2009
Rows of allegorical statues line the Grand Allee of Castle Hill, once the seaside estate of the Crane Plumbing family. For nearly 100 years, they have looked down on private parties and great public events. One of them, however, seems to have vanished, leaving its empty pedestal and all its friends behind. I put that pedestal first in line to make an incongruous point.
28-JUL-2009
The call, New York City, New York, 2009
The massive towers of Midtown Manhattan dwarf a man who holds a cell phone to his ear. He is surrounded by thousands of people but for him only one person really matters at the moment – the person he is speaking to. The image is incongruous because of the disparity in scale between the man and his environment. He is but a tiny fragment of the total image, yet he stands out because of his placement in the frame and the flow of light and shadow around him.
There is another incongruous aspect to the image as well. The huge pillar that dominates the image once marked the corner of one of the New York’s most elegant 20th century department stores at Madison Avenue and 34th Street. The vague imprint of its name -- “B. Altman’s” – can still be faintly seen etched on one of the 95-year-old limestone blocks. This section of the store was opened in 1914 and closed in 1989. The building now serves other tenants, while the department store itself becomes ever more obscure – as obscure to most of us as the lone figure who bends over his cell phone in the morning sunlight.
27-JUN-2009
A new world, Wright Park, Tacoma, Washington, 2009
A pair of “Green Maidens” grace the Division Street entrance of this huge park, which opened to the public at the end of the 19th century. I photographed one of the statues from behind, hands on hips, as if she were gazing out at the city that has grown up around it. She has watched Tacoma change for more than 100 years, and seems a bit confused by the chaos that seems to exist just outside the entrance to the park. The incongruity comes in two forms: the statue is showing very human qualities, and its Victorian sensibilities seem very different from the turbulent city it now confronts.
25-JUN-2009
Royal advisor, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 2009
This animated black bird appears to be giving Her Majesty an earful. The royal response is predictably impassive. Statues are always hard of hearing. Upon such a fact, incongruities are based. Another coincidence sharpens the humor here. The birds sits on the end of the Queen’s scepter, her symbol of royal authority. The scepter is a symbolically perfect perch for the bird’s harangue. Both the bird and queen share coloration as well. The statue is black and so is the bird. The gray sky added still another monochromatic dimension, so I converted the image from color to black and white. The statue of Queen Victoria stands before British Columbia’s Parliament Building.
25-JUN-2009
Electrified, Parliament Building, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 2009
When I zoomed in on one of the statues that flank the entrance to the British Columbia Parliament Building, I noticed that it stood inside of niche lined by light bulbs. The scowling 19th century statesman in the niche looks as if he is about to be electrocuted. This image is a good example of how small details can create incongruous meaning. All we need do is to isolate and emphasize them. (I have seen photographs of this building at night, and those tiny lights do serve a purpose – they illuminate the outlines of the building and its architectural features, making it once of the most striking sights in Victoria.)
21-JUN-2009
Off target, Portland, Oregon, 2009
To some eyes, the sight of someone shooting baskets while wearing Muslim dress is incongruous. He seems about to miss the shot, yet he still points one finger skyward in triumph -- another incongruity. I shot him from behind to abstract the subject and leave as much as possible up to the imagination of the viewer.
17-JUN-2009
Alone, Trinidad Beach, Patrick’s Point State Park, Trinidad, California, 2009
I made this image from a cliff overlooking the ebb and flow of the waves on Trinidad Beach. I zoomed all the way in on a single beachgoer, using my 400mm telephoto lens. Yet she was so far from me that she still appears as a tiny figure next to the great expanse of water and sand around her. This is an example of scale incongruity – comparing something small to something much larger.
23-JUN-2009
Right of way, Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park, Washington, 2009
A female black tail deer guides its fawn through the intricacies of the parking lot at Olympic National Park’s Hurricane Ridge viewing area. Not a person is in sight here – just a long row of machines. Somehow, the mother knows exactly where to go in order to find the pedestrian walkway. It is an incongruous situation, made more so by the absence of human beings.
22-JUN-2009
Feline observer, Astoria, Oregon, 2009
When I first saw this white cat sitting in the window of a white house in front of a white shade, I was amused. It seemed as if it was trying to blend in and become an invisible observer. I saw that as incongruous, and made this image. Not only is it incongruous to see a cat squeezed between a window shade and a window – it is also incongruous just to note the similarity of the colors here. I also like the soft glow of light and shadow on the peeling white wall of the house, adding just a touch of warmth to the scene.
25-JUN-2009
Tour guide, Victoria, British Columbia, 2009
This woman was waiting for her next tour to begin when she suddenly produced this fully extended yawn. The moment is incongruous and it lasted long enough for me to frame, focus, and shoot. She also is waiting behind a large lectern intended to provide formal and official status, yet her momentary response to the tedium of the moment is both highly informal and very unofficial.
11-JUN-2009
Striking a pose, State Capitol Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, 2009
My tutorial students enjoy shooting portraits in this museum – their models are very patient and never move. Here, a life-sized statue of a 19th century soldier of the old west strikes a jaunty pose for an energetic 21st century photographer. The two poses contrast strongly, creating an incongruous relationship. I use a 16mm wideangle focal length here, which allows me to stress the energy of my student, filling half the frame with her angular gyrations. Yet the sweep of the wideangle lens also has room to embrace the design of the floor tiles, the 19th century woodwork, and the old soldier, hand to pistol, standing upon his circular platform.
01-JUN-2009
A sense of time and place, Austin, Texas, 2009
Austin’s 19th, 20th, and 21st century architecture offers stunning contrasts in time. The most impressive commercial structure in town, the 515-foot tall Frost Bank Tower, dominates Austin’s skyline. In this image, I contrast its sleek silvery blue glass façade to a vintage advertisement, featuring a stolid cowboy, painted on the side of an old brick structure standing just a few blocks away. In doing so, I incongruously compare Austin’s iconic rustic western image to a symbol of its present day economic muscle. I also try to offer a glimpse into its future – I imply here that Austin can benefit from finding ways to preserve such relics of its vintage western charm, while at the same time continuing to flourish as an economic entity. I photograph both buildings from their corners to give them a sense of spatial dimension. I tilt the camera to create diagonal rhythms within my tight frame that incongruously fuses both structures together. In doing so, I try to express a sense of time, as well as sense of place. Instead of tearing down its past, Austin incorporates it into its present and future.
08-APR-2009
Old friends, Saguaro National Park, Tucson, Arizona, 2009
This pair of giant Saguaro cacti appears to be saying farewell to each other with outstretched arms. I stress the thrust of the arms by getting down low and shooting up at them with a 24mm wideangle lens turned vertically. The golden light warms the towering Saguaros, and provides a perfect context for a farewell at sunset. The incongruity comes, of course, from my attempt to anthropomorphize these non-human subjects.
11-APR-2009
Rainbow over the Longhorn Grill, Arivaca Junction, Arizona, 2009
A restaurant with a skull for an entrance is an incongruity in itself. To find a rainbow originating between the horns takes the incongruity to another level altogether. There was a massive rainstorm rising behind the rainbow as I made this image, creating a perfect backdrop for this incongruous juxtaposition. I spot metered on the white skull, making the rest of the image even darker, and using the under-exposed shadows to mask a potential distraction created by a car parked right in front of the restaurant.
14-APR-2009
Biker shop, Seligman, Arizona, 2009.
Hundreds of bikers regularly rumble along Historic Route 66 in Northern Arizona, and this biker shop in Seligman welcomes their business with a pair of lifelike mannequins hanging around its entrance. Mannequins are no stranger to this gallery – they are often incongruous. (Almost three years earlier, in fact, I photographed another mannequin at this same shop in Seligman:
http://www.pbase.com/image/63555669 ) Such incongruity can take different forms – in my 2006 image, the incongruity rested in seeing the flaws upon an otherwise perfect face. In this image, however, the incongruity comes in how lifelike the mannequins appear as they pose and relax amidst the furniture in front of the shop. They seem ready for company, only none is in sight.
14-APR-2009
Burros, Oatman, Arizona, 2009
A herd of semi-wild burros wait for handouts in a parking lot next to the old mining town’s Community Hall. Using a 24mm wideangle lens, I move in on them to fill half the frame, yet still allow room for the building and its signage. It is incongruous to see semi-wild animals prowling the streets of a town, and even more incongruous to see them in the context of a human activity such as a community hall. In fact, the only community we see here is made up of burros. The burros are descendants of the pack animals turned loose by gold prospectors in the 1920s and are protected by the US Department of the Interior.
19-MAR-2009
American Merchant Mariner’s Memorial, New York City, New York, 2009
This monument, located at the tip of Manhattan in Battery Park, honors the thousands of merchant mariners who have died at sea in the course of American history. Created in 1991 by the artist Marisol Escobar, part of it features a bronze sculpture of a drowning man that is not only unsettlingly realistic, but dependent upon the ebb and flow of New York harbor’s tides. It is reaching upwards from the water, towards a helping hand extended from one of three other bronze figures stationed on a rescue boat overhead. I framed only the drowning man, his body wracked with tension and fear. Over time, the weather and seawater have coated the figure with a patina that further blends it to the sea. Will he live or die? The colors in my image make the body appear to be flayed – revealing raw flesh below its green copper skin. The rough texture of the stone base of the monument adds still another dimension of fear to the image, confining the figure within a claustrophobic space. The power of photographic illusion enhances the creative concept and brilliant execution of the sculptor, using incongruity to help express the terror of a drowning at sea.
09-OCT-2008
Safe Haven, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2008
I found this huge bull elk resting near one a tourist parking lot. Elk prefer this place because they like the taste of the grass, which was originally planted for the US Army horses that grazed at the old Fort Yellowstone here in the early 20th century. The presence of so many tourists does not seem to bother them in the least. I make this incongruous point by waiting for a human to enter the frame – neither party takes any notice of each other here.
08-OCT-2008
Ranger’s bike, Castle Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2008
The ranger who parked this bike just off a Yellowstone tourist trail is a very trusting soul. I found the juxtaposition of parked bike and the ranger hat to be very incongruous. It is as if the bike has suddenly come to life as a ranger. Meanwhile, the real ranger was nowhere to be seen.
08-OCT-2008
Where’s mine? Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, West Yellowstone, Montana, 2008
This huge grizzly is too busy devouring its meal to notice the hungry raven just a few feet away. The scale incongruity is striking – one swipe of the paw could send this raven to another, perhaps even better, place. Yet the bird obviously is used to feasting on the leftovers and seems happy for a place at the table. The bear is one of eight captive grizzlies at the non-profit Discovery Center, which provides visitors going to nearby Yellowstone Park an opportunity to observe, learn about and appreciate grizzly bears and gray wolves. All of the bears are either rescued orphans or were relocated because they had become habituated to human food.
(Note: I think it is important that travel photographers clearly identify any photos such as this one, which depict animals located in zoos, on game farms, or under captive circumstances. In my view, to not do so, and thereby mislead the viewer into believing that such images were made in the wild, is unethical behavior. It also is unfair to those wildife photographers who take the time, expend skill and effort, and assume the expense of making photos of animal behavior in the natural world.)
17-SEP-2008
Life imitates art, Sisters, Oregon, 2008
Just outside of the town of Sisters, Oregon, we passed a horse farm that featured a display of life sized flat metal horse sculptures. Incongruously surrounding the sculptured horses were real horses, a perfect opportunity for a striking photograph. I made about fifty images within ten minutes of shooting, and this one was my favorite. Why? Because of how perfectly the real horses have integrated themselves with the metal horses. I include two real horses and two sculptures here. The featured horse at left looks right at us, as if to show off his metal friends. At first glance, the raised hoof seems to belong to it. At second glance. we see that the raised hoof is part of a sculpture. The mane of the real horse appears just below the flying mane of the metal horse, linking the two in tandem. Meanwhile, the black horse at center provides a bridge between the two metal horses. I liked the way the shadow on the tail of the sculpture at right seems to be an extension of the black horse’s head. All four horses, real and imagined, link perfectly here, and take incongruity to a new level.
15-SEP-2008
Air raid, Klamath Falls, Oregon, 2008
Many photographers would pass up a chance to shoot this World War II commemorative mural in Klamath Fall because the parking lot in front of it is always full of cars. I saw the cars as a benefit, not a hindrance. I positioned myself so that the huge painting of a bomber seems to be careening into the cars parked in the foreground. I chose a car with a color that would complement the bomber, and the metallic blue paint of this one worked perfectly. I also liked how the big red taillights add an energy that echoes the energy of the explosions in the background. This merging of art and reality creates an incongruous juxtaposition. This image tells us to be careful where we park.
16-MAY-2008
Racing Long Johns, Angels Camp, California, 2008
For the past 70 years, California’s Calaveras County has been holding a frog-jumping contest at its country fair near the old gold mining town of Angels Camp. (The contest was inspired by Mark Twain’s 1865 tall tale of a jumping frog, which was written in Angels Camp.) When we arrived in Angels Camp the week before the 2008 contest, its main street was already decorated with clothing likely to be worn by gold miners. There is a double incongruity at work in this image – using underwear as decoration is an unusual practice. And stiff winds made the long Johns in this image appear to come to life and race each other while dangling on a wire just above the town’s old mercantile exchange. (A week later, we once again passed through Angels Camp, only there was no wind blowing, and the long Johns hung limply over the street.)
12-MAY-2008
Don’t forget, Mariposa, California, 2008
While visiting Mariposa’s Catholic cemetery, I noticed am iconic statue of Christ on a hill high over the graves. It appears to be blessing the dead. Someone had tied a pine needle around Christ’s index finger – symbolizing the need to remember something. I move in on that finger to stress the incongruity of a potentially forgetful statue of Christ. Meanwhile, reflected mid-day light hits the statue, adding a touch of warmth to the incongruous message.
16-MAY-2008
On rusted legs, Coulterville, California, 2008
As we left our hotel in Coulterville, I noticed a battered lawn ornament staring at our rooms just across the parking lot. The figure is handicapped – its legs have been reduced to rusting metal rods. I got behind it, putting my viewers into its shoes. The forlorn figure seems to be longing for a place to stay – the morning light slashes it with spots of warmth and adds mysterious shadows as well. The figure is incongruous. We don’t expect to see something like this standing in a motel parking lot. (He can have my room, now that I’ve checked out.)
28-APR-2008
Waves, Arizona Science Center, Phoenix, Arizona, 2008
The huge human hand on the façade of this museum seems to be waving at us, while a group of school children in the glassed-in tower just above it are waving as well. They don’t see the big hand, just a guy with a camera pointed at them. I crop the image into a geometric design by including the building elements on both sides of the glass tower.
The entire image becomes a cohesive grid, supporting both the unique structure of the museum itself and the incongruity of those waves, both small and large.
21-MAR-2008
Territorial claim, Jaipur, India, 2008
A cow incongruously faces down a flock of pigeons in Jaipur’s old city The pigeons may rule the air, but they seem to gradually back down on the ground as the cow invades their space.
26-MAR-2008
Tourists at rest, Taj Mahal, Agra, India, 2008
Two to four million people visit the Taj Mahal each year, with more than 200,000 from overseas. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the modern world. Strict security is enforced -- only water bottles, cameras, and cell phones may be carried in to the complex. Everything else must be checked at the gate. This pair of tourists somehow managed to break away from the surging crowds and find a peaceful alcove all for themselves. That feat alone is incongruous. But so is the scale variation here – the Taj is a study in symmetry. It has four identical entrances, one on each side. This is one of them, and it soars over the pair of fatigued visitors.
20-MAR-2008
The spy, Amber Palace, Jaipur, India, 2008
The three story gateway to the palace features a sole window for women of the court who were forbidden to be seen by men. Today anyone can peer down at the crowds below. The sight of the silhouetted head is incongruous, particularly when it seems to be looking in two directions at once.
18-MAR-2008
Argument, First Mosque, Old Delhi, India, 2008
The Might of Islam Mosque was India's first, built in 1193. Today, only its ruins remain, home to dozens of parrots. I found considerable incongruity in the sight of two parrots arguing while sunning themselves on a fallen column full of broken figures.
21-MAR-2008
Guard, City Palace, Jaipur, India, 2008
The mixture of old and new, then and now, business and pleasure, will usually spark incongruous juxtapositions. In this case, a security guard, wearing a traditional turban, and surrounded by a historic palace, takes what appears to be an urgent cellular call.
25-MAR-2008
Village bus, rural Rajasthan, India, 2008
This is the front end of a handbuilt truck that serves as a bus in rural village, featuring such incongruous sights as eight lights and a tiny plastic horn
20-MAR-2008
Schoolroom chase, Simode, India, 2008
Our bus was passing through the village of Simode, between Delhi and Jaipur, when I saw these boys chasing each other through schoolroom windows. I instinctively raised my camera to the bus window and made this shot. I was amazed to see that I had caught the ins and outs of the moment. This schoolboy prank contains the seeds of incongruity. I was fortunate that it worked out even better than it looks.
01-APR-2008
Duck farmer, Kerala Backwaters, India, 2008
Imagine my surprise when a fellow paddled by our boat accompanied by a thousand or more ducks! This image is made incongruous by such juxtaposition in this image. The ducks can’t fly away – their wings are clipped. All they can do is futilely paddle their own way to market, while a man with his own paddle herds them along.
30-MAR-2008
Cremation logs, Varanasi, India, 2008
Huge logs that will be used to fuel Varanasi’s cremation pyres make an elevated roadway for a wandering sacred cow. I found this juxtaposition to be incongruous – the logs will be used to consume the dead, while the cow will maintain the living.
02-JAN-2008
Nap, Tra Vinh, Vietnam, 2008
The conical hat, an iconic symbol of Vietnam, not only offers shade, but if pulled well forward, it can turn day into night. If this conical hat is the traditional symbol of Vietnam, the motorbike has become the ultimate symbol of Vietnam today. They are seen here in incongruous juxtaposition. When one is not trying to get somewhere, or struggling to keep up with the ever increasing pace and demands of daily life in Vietnam, they are often seen catching up on lost sleep. In Vietnam, from Hanoi to the Mekong Delta, sleep is often where you can find it.
21-DEC-2007
Fashion statement, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2007
Vietnam’s new helmet law, which just went into effect, requires everyone who drives or rides on a motorized bike to wear a crash helmet. This has created quite a stir, particularly among young people, who often seem more concerned about messing up their hair than preserving their skulls in the event of a crash. To offset the messy hair dilemma, new emphasis is being placed on helmet fashions, including color coordination. I took careful note of the traces of green on this rider’s facemask – it perfectly matches the color of her helmet. I also was startled by the effect of the rhinestone-studded glasses. I found the entire get-up somewhat incongruous – an attempt to make lemonade out of a lemon. The more fashionable the drivers try to become with their driving costumes, the more bizarrely incongruous the final effect. I made this close up image of a Hanoi cyclist from my tour bus window to prove my point.
09-NOV-2007
Ship Rock and neighbors, Ship Rock, New Mexico, 2007
Ship Rock is a rock formation rising over the high desert plains of Northwestern New Mexico. It is of great significance to the Navajo people and governed by the Navajo Nation. The Navajo homes in the foreground provide an idea of just how big Ship Rock is. This image is an example of scale incongruity, the juxtaposition of small subjects against large ones. Ship Rock itself is so large that it can be clearly seen from fifty miles away.
12-NOV-2007
Mixed metaphors, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2007
This "art" store targets those interested in theology, western kitsch, and nude Indian maidens. Apparently, this incongruously strange fusion of genres sells well in Santa Fe. The image speaks simultaneously faith and myth, of the Spanish and the Indian, and throws in an electric meter for good measure.
09-NOV-2007
Balancing act, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona, 2007
Balancing on a few feet of rock over a 1,000-foot drop is not for the faint hearted. Yet our tour leader Dave Wyman incongruously seems quite at home in such situations. He looks away from his perch above the chasm, which makes this image seem even more frightening and incongruous. The play of light, towering cliffs, and scale incongruity make him seem even more vulnerable than he is. (I hope that he doesn’t try this again -- all it takes is just one misstep and....)
10-NOV-2007
Baby sitting, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, 2007
I'm not sure if this man is baby-sitting the stuffed animal, the child, or both. In any event, it’s an incongruous situation. Meanwhile, the child seems more interested in exploring her shoes than investigating the cases of ancient pottery that lined the room. I made this image in Mesa Verde’s Museum – the stained glass window gives the image its sense of place. The man and child don’t even seem to notice this beautiful work, yet its vivid colors dominate the image. That adds still another incongruous touch to this image.
15-SEP-2007
Snooze, Beijing, China, 2007
I can’t read what the red banner proclaims, but this particular fellow certainly seems unmindful of its exhortations, whatever they might be. The relationship between the banner, which seems to call us to action, and the inaction of the sleeping man, is incongruous. Since both the banner and the sleeping man are horizontally displayed, I choose a 28mm wideangle lens to stress the flow of both elements.
(After I posted this image, pbase artist Sheena Xin Liu, a Chinese student now living in the US, has left a comment telling us that the red banner says "I contribute my efforts, then I rejoice." As she notes, "instead of a sweating worker laboring under this banner, we discover a drowsy man making himself comfortable in a two-chair bed." The words on the banner, juxtaposed with his somnolent posture, double the incongruity here.)
18-SEP-2007
Two worlds, Beijing, China, 2007
The contrasting emotional responses of the bus riders and the people in the advertisement on the outside of their bus are dramatically incongruous. I used this concept during my 2004 visit to China as well – you can see it by clicking on the thumbnail below. I am always trying to build on my ideas, and this time around I matched the number of people in the bus window to the number of people in the advertisement. By limiting the number of emotional responses here, the incongruity is more directly expressed.
09-AUG-2007
Mowing the lawn, University of Phoenix Stadium, Phoenix, Arizona, 2007
While touring the new 70,000-seat home of the National Football League’s Arizona Cardinals, I noticed two visitors taking a break by watching a groundskeeper mow the football field. I framed this mage to abstract, isolate, and emphasize the relaxed tourists, and create a triple incongruity in the process. The distant tractor cutting the stadium's fully retractable natural grass playing surface is incongruously small compared to the vast arena that surrounds it. I have also created an incongruity by featuring just two people seated within a context of seats intended for thousands. Watching grass being cut is almost as entertaining as watching paint dry. I have turned “grass-cutting” into an incongruous event in a stadium built to host Super Bowls. (For more on this stadium, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Phoenix_Stadium )
07-JUL-2007
Big Sweep, Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado, 2007
A 35-foot high sculpture of a broom and dustpan made of painted metal greets visitors at the base of the “prow” of the new addition to Denver’s Art Museum. The work, by artists Coosje van Bruggen and Claes Oldenburg, offers a double incongruity. Art elevates a commonplace household task to monumental civic status here. And my distant vantage point creates enormous scale incongruity by contrasting the huge sculpture and the even larger museum building to the tiny figures walking below them.
08-JUL-2007
Seventh Street Café, Denver, Colorado, 2007
Sunday morning is a quiet time in Denver’s neighborhoods. This image benefits from that fact – there are no cars to block our view, and the absence of diners at this café intensifies the triple incongruity at work here. The size of the portrait in the advertisement on the exterior wall of this café is incongruously large for its surroundings. Two other incongruities pose questions to the viewer. Why is the model posed in a thoughtful, almost puzzled manner – an introspective attitude that does not seem likely to draw crowds of diners to this café? And why would the café place this portrait so that the woman appears to be chewing on the fence when viewed from across the street?
(Shortly after posting this image, I was told that the woman represented on the wall of this cafe is probably an Icelandic singer known as Bjork. Does this context change the meaning of the picture? I would certainly wonder what her picture is doing on the side of a neighborhood cafe in Denver, Colorado.)
12-JUN-2007
Shop window, Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, California, 2007
By contrasting a bald mannequin to a photograph of a blonde model with a full mane, the window decorator of this store is using incongruous juxtaposition to stop passers-by in their tracks. It certainly drew the attention of a group of pbase photographers on the prowl for startling images. I was able to add still another incongruity that makes the image go beyond the shocking juxtaposition to imply greater meaning. The window is broken, and I shot the image through the shattered glass to tell still another story. The photograph in the background represents what once was, the bald mannequin suggests the present reality, and the layer of broken glass in the foreground speaks of broken dreams and lost hopes.
09-JUN-2007
The haunting field, di Rosa Preserve, Napa Valley, California, 2007
Photographs are forbidden in the sprawling galleries on the di Rosa Preserve, but visitors are allowed to make images of the many contemporary sculptures that are placed around the vast estate. These hands reach incongruously from the earth as reminders of our mortality. In color, the image was too real and less haunting. By converting it to black and white, it becomes even more incongruous and unsettling.
09-JUN-2007
Asleep, Farmer’s Market, Petaluma, California, 2007
A double dose of shade incongruously helps this small sleeper. The adult shirt over the child’s head is also a scale incongruity. The position of the hands and he upright legs make it seem as if she is awake, yet somehow has lost her head. I move in from the top and shoot down to replacing the background clutter with nothing but grass.
09-JUN-2007
Grazing, di Rosa Preserve, Napa Valley, California, 2007
More than 900 artists are represented in Rene di Rosa’s huge collection of contemporary art at the di Rosa Preserve. One of those artists was his late wife Veronica, who created a herd of grazing sheep made of steel plate in 1988. I first photographed the entire herd as part of a landscape. But the incongruity of it was lost in translation. At a distance, they looked too real. So I moved in and stressed the detail of the grass, using a steel sheep without eyes and mouth as incongruous context.
24-FEB-2007
Remembrance, War Relocation Center, Manzanar, California, 2007
More than 11,000 Japanese-American internees were enclosed by barbed wire in this mile square camp between 1942 and 1945. Some still rest in Manzanar's tiny cemetery -- including "Baby Jerry Obata." It is customary to leave broken offerings its graves as remembrances -- somebody has decorated this child's grave with a broken Elvis doll.
There are a number of incongruities in this image – the name is engraved in both Japanese and English; the fact that this is the grave of a baby whose entire short life may well have been spent behind barbed wire fences; and of course the broken Elvis doll lying helplessly, arm extended, amidst the stones left on the grave. The state of the doll is particularly poignant. It is a child’s toy, but Baby Jerry Obata never was able to play with it. Its legs have been twisted off, revealing a spring within the body. It was built for pleasure, but it was left here in sadness.
22-FEB-2007
Ghostly welcome, Rhyolite, Nevada, 2007
A contemporary sculpture of a ghost about to ride a bicycle stands just outside of Rhyolite, a ghost town that once lured thousands of gold-seekers. The ghostly sculpture is by Belgian sculptor Albert Szukalski, who came to Rhyolite in the 1980s and established the Goldwell Open Air Museum to add a contemporary dimension to this old ghost town. It is an incongruous work of art -- ghosts don’t usually ride bikes. The ghost is made of stone and the bike seems to be real. I’ve tried to make it even more incongruous by using this vantage point. I’ve removed as much of the sculpture’s platform as possible, making it seem as if the ghost is about to get on and ride off into the hills in the background. My vantage point also allows me to contrast the white ghost to that dark background.
19-FEB-2007
Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California, 2007
The Badwater Basin is the lowest point in the United States, 282 feet below sea level. Visitors can walk over a mile out onto the saltpans below. They are dwarfed by the Panamint Mountains in the distance. It is this scale incongruity that tells the story. Although there is a crowd of people in this image, that crowd is vastly diminished by the scale of both the mountains and the valley. Although I made this image with a 200mm lens, I was far enough away from my subjects to retain this scale difference.
20-FEB-2007
Nonconformist, Zabriskie Point, Death Valley, California, 2007
Instead of following the crowd shooting the effects of the rising sun, this lone photographer turns in the opposite direction to shoot the massive rock formations behind Zabriskie Point in softer light. The scale incongruity here – a small photographer contrasted to a vast landscape – is a perfect match for the idea I am trying to express. Landscape photography is a challenging art. The broader and more massive the landscape, the more difficult it becomes to interpret it. This photographer has a great subject to work with, but now he or she must try to go beyond the clichés and make an image that expresses the essence of the scene.
20-FEB-2007
Raven Mavens, Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California, 2007
This is one of those intuitive incongruous ideas that kept getting better and better. I was trying to photograph a raven sitting on the stone wall in front of Zabriskie’s famous landmark, the Manley Beacon, when I noticed my shadow kept getting longer as I approached. I thought my shadow would create an incongruous foreground and included it in the composition. Suddenly another raven flew into the frame, and just as he did so, pbase photographer Tim May, who was shooting with me on this trip to Death Valley, walked up next to me and began shooting his own shadow and his own raven. And there it was – the incongruity of twin shadows and twin ravens, with the golden morning light on the Manley Beacon as a background. As we were shooting this picture I also noticed another incongruity – the rocky mosaic in the wall is echoed by the patchwork of colors on the Manley Beacon.
20-FEB-2007
Body Language, Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, 2007
Shooting the dawn at Zabriskie Point is a photographic ritual. Yet even though they are all shooting the same subject here, each of these photographers uses unique body language. By shooting them from behind, I abstract the scene and remove identities, emphasizing only how they stand before their cameras. Some bend, others hunch, and one struggles to adjust her tripod before the moment of light she is shooting vanishes forever. The scene is incongruous because none of these photographers realize that they, too, have become the subjects of a picture. They are too engrossed in their own images to even turn around. For non-photographers, the incongruity of this image rests in the fact that all six people are (in a bitter cold wind, no less) making what appears to be the same picture of the same rock at the same time.
23-FEB-2007
Sculpture, Darwin, California, 2007
Darwin is a borderline ghost town just outside of Death Valley National Park’s western entrance. In the 1870s, more than 3,000 silver miners lived here. Today, its population is less than 50. I was amazed to see this classical sculpture standing in the deeply shadowed window of a time worn house. The sculpture seems both out of place and out of time – an incongruous sight in a place remembered mainly for its history of gunfights and fires. The figure seems to be wondering how he wound up in a place such as this.
24-DEC-2006
Prefers tea, Marrakesh, Morocco, 2006
This café patron is engulfed in Coca-Cola signage. Yet he has ordered a pot of tea. The visual incongruity comes not only with his choice of beverage – the sheer volume of Coca-Cola’s advertising presence in this café is overwhelming in scale as well. The man seems to ignore it all, including, for the moment anyway, his tea. His thoughts are apparently elsewhere.
10-DEC-2006
Butchers bench, Essaouira, Morocco, 2006
Six headless sheep, gutted and strung up for display, beckon to customers at the weekly market near Essaouira. To western eyes, such a graphic display at the meat counter is incongruous. Even more incongruous is the subtle inclusion of the people chatting with the butcher in the shadows at left. They take no notice of the grisly display hanging only a few feet away from their noses. Butchers take such carcasses for granted. To mix a metaphor, it’s their bread and butter.
23-DEC-2006
Role Model, Ouarzazate, Morocco, 2006
Two cats, one furry, the other bronze, take the morning sun together on the porch of a metalworking shop in Ouarzazate. The incongruity appears in four dimensions: scale, type of cat, choice of material, and emotional attitude. The cat seems familiar with the lion’s bluster, and takes it all in stride.
26-DEC-2006
Through the wall, Ouirgane, Morocco, 2006
The sight of a tree growing through a brick wall is an incongruous one. This triumph of a work of nature over a work of man is also symbolized by small leaves growing at its base, and the golden glow of the sun around the base of the intrusion.
28-DEC-2006
Cascades d’Ouzoud, Et-Tieta-Ouzoud, Morocco, 2006
The vertical plunge of this waterfall is 328 feet. I waited for a passing tourist to step on to a viewing platform next to the basin that catches this plunge. The explosion of water dwarfs his figure, giving this image thought provoking scale incongruity. He seems almost indifferent to the awesome power of nature.
25-DEC-2006
Mirror image, Marrakesh, Morocco, 2006
I noticed an ornate mirror set up just below a painting of a woman wearing a head covering. I waited for an actual woman with a head covering to pass by, and caught her reflection from behind in the mirror. This image offers a double incongruity – contrasts between the frontal and rear views and painted vs. live women.
15-DEC-2006
Nike man, Meknes, Morocco, 2006
This man, who works on a farm outside of Meknes, probably has little, if any, understanding of the significance of the Nike athletic branding on his hat. It is an incongruous embellishment to western eyes, however – this fellow just does not look the part of an athlete, or even someone who follows international athletics. I am sure he likes the hat, however – it keeps him comfortable on cold winter mornings such as this one was.
13-DEC-2006
Interchangeable faces, Rabat, Morocco, 2006
I spotted this mannequin staring vacantly at nothing in Rabat’s busy old city market. I noticed that a lace hanging from a shoe displayed next to its face created a vertical line between the cheek and temple, and the shadow of that a shoelace created another line across the neck. Seen together, these lines imply that the face could be removable and replaceable. Another face floats among the clothing to its left – almost as if it could be swapped out as a substitute face for this mannequin. The concept of interchangeable faces is an incongruous one, and it can be extended to life itself as a comment on the temporary masks we create to hide behind in our daily lives.
21-OCT-2006
A face in the window, Bodie Historic Park, California, 2006
The rangers who work in the abandoned gold mining town of Bodie in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains bring a touch of warmth to this ghost town’s windswept streets by placing jack-o-lanterns in two of the windows of the Cain Residence, the most elegant of Bodie’s semi-preserved houses. It came as an incongruous shock to see Mr. Cain’s windows come to life again with these illuminated faces. I made this image at dusk, structuring it as a geometrical study, using diagonals, along with repeating horizontals and verticals, to animate this haunted ruin of a house with a touch of the incongruous.
05-OCT-2006
Aged burl, Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona, Arizona, 2006
It’s only a piece of old wood by the side of a trail following the meandering of
Oak Creek, yet I’ve photographed it at very close range to reveal what looks like a brain emerging from ancient rocks. It is startlingly incongruous, not what we’d expect to find while taking a hike along a creek. Using a spot meter on the light colored wood, I’ve underexposed this image to abstract it, making it seem something other than what it really is.
23-SEP-2006
Bison and wildflowers, Antelope Island State Park, Utah, 2006
The bison is massive; the tiny flowers he is grazing on are frail. I was able to get this bison’s nose within a few inches of the flowers. It was as if he had just stopped to smell them. The concept of a huge bison smelling a tiny bunch of flowers is incongruous, a quirk of nature. His expression seems thoughtful, almost to the point of pleasure. Do bison enjoy the scent of flowers? This image asks the question, and we must supply the answer.
28-SEP-2006
Dining room, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2006
There are elk grazing all over the tiny town of Mammoth Hot Springs. I saw this female enjoying her lunch just outside of a restaurant next to our hotel. I included the sign on the façade of the building to make the image incongruous. While humans dine inside, the elk does likewise on the other side of the door. (The food chain continues – a tiny magpie waits for its share at the lower left edge of the frame. I did not notice its presence until much later. Birds dine on insects that are attracted to the elk.)
18-SEP-2006
Stetsons for sale, Kanab, Utah, 2006
A life-sized mannequin of the late movie star John Wayne relaxes among the Stetsons in the hat department of the largest tourist shop in Kanab. I made this image from the side, strengthening the incongruous relationship between the Stetson pulled low over the eyes of the ersatz Wayne, and the stacks of Stetson awaiting buyers. I’ve even included a batch of spurs next to the crown of Wayne’s hat to add the flavor of the Old West to the image.
23-SEP-2006
Eye to eye, Antelope Island State Park, Utah, 2006
I caught this pair of jousting male bison doing a bit of casual head butting. The more I look at this image, the more incongruous it becomes. The catchlights in the eyes dominate the scene and tell the story. Each animal seems to be looking elsewhere, as if this sparring match is a sideshow. The heads merge – asking us to consider where one bison ends and the other begins.
28-SEP-2006
Catching a break, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, 2006
Only moments after an energetic mating session (click on thumbnail below ), a magnificent male elk incongruously takes a rest on the lawn of Yellowstone’s main post office in Mammoth Hot Springs. To add to the incongruity, the elk ignores the presence of the stylized statue of a bear just behind him, while the lanterns over the doors of the post office echo its rack of antlers. The tag in his ear helps rangers monitor his whereabouts.
27-SEP-2006
Waiting, White Dome Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2006
Geyser watching at Yellowstone is a spectator sport. It takes a lot of patience. One never knows when nature will take its course and send steam and water erupting into the sky. I found this geyser-watcher relaxing in his camp chair, his eyes trained on the softly steaming hulk of White Dome. My overhead vantage point stresses his patience – he could be there for another hour before it erupts. Actually, the geyser erupted while I was still photographing him, but those images were not nearly as incongruous as this one because once the geyser went to work, all the passive contrast between the watcher and the watched vanished.
21-OCT-2006
Boulder art, Lundy Lake, California, 2006
A local artist painted the gaudy face of an Indian on a huge boulder by the side of a dirt road not far from Lundy Lake. As I photographed it, I noticed that as I changed my vantage point, the face itself changed from a description to an abstraction, making it incongruous in the process. This image was made with a 28mm wideangle lens from straight on, leaving the left portion of the image as boulder, and the right portion as face. If we study the image closely, we can see the face looking directly at us. Or we can imagine it in profile. To some, it might appear to be primarily a hodgepodge of color, and not an Indianhead at all. The white war paint bisects the image, abstracting the photograph to create an incongruous feast for the imagination.
07-AUG-2006
Urban golf, Houston Street, New York City, 2006
This image offers us a triple dose of incongruous juxtapositions. The head of a famous golfer fills two stories of an apartment building. She emerges from the top of a flowering tree, and gazes into mysteriously sealed windows. By isolating these juxtapositions within the frame of my camera, I take all of these elements out of their normal context, creating an image that is ultimately more surreal than real. Scale incongruity, subject incongruity, and contextual incongruity run simultaneously through this image. The head is part of a billboard promoting an upcoming tournament featuring Annika Sorenstam, the most successful performer in women’s golf. I cropped out all the words, and most of Sorenstam along with them. I moved my vantage point so her head pops out of the tree that fills the lower right hand corner of the frame. All of which leaves half the image for context – an array of closed windows. Sorenstam, who was probably pondering a tricky putt when the golfing image was made, seems to be thinking more about what might lie within those mysterious windows, and less about putting the ball into the hole.
07-AUG-2006
Asleep at the board, Washington Square Park, Greenwich Village, New York City, 2006
Chess is a game of the mind. But not when that mind is shut down. The board is ready for the first move. Yet the opponent is missing and the player is sleeping! To make this incongruity work, we must be sure that this man is actually a chess player. I had no way of knowing. I couldn’t ask him. So I made this photograph and allow my viewers to decide. It is also entirely possible that this man may live in the park, and was simply asked by serious chess players to hold the board for them while they went to lunch. And this is how he holds it? If such are the facts, then we still have an incongruous image here. One does not usually lay claim to a chess board while sound asleep.
UPDATE:
More than a year after I made this image, I received an email that provides profound and fascinating additional context. Read the following words and look at the image again. It becomes even more incongruous, and its meaning changes as well. Here is the message in its entirety:
"Hello, Mr Douglis:
That man on your picture which was taken in Washington Square Park is a real chess player.He is a Russian national master and chess teacher. Current status-homeless. He is known for his strong, professional game style with ELO rating around 2200.That's why he dosn't have so many opponents at his table.Most of the players just don't want to play chess with him, because it feels like playing deep fritz. Your photo shows that his eyes are shut, but his mind is on ''stand by'' mode, ready to go at any moment.
I hope that information will be helpful for your gallery data.
Sincerelly,
Zbig Kuczek"
12-JUL-2006
Mute welcome, Seligman, Arizona, 2006
Seligman's biker's shop is a popular gathering place. Perhaps it's because the clientele enjoys bantering with this hostess who sits just outside the shop, never moving her lips in return. (The chipped nose and stylized teeth give her away.) This image is a good example of incongruity that confounds our expectations. Her appearance is startling, so natural, and yet also quite dead. Our imaginations can take it from there.
10-JUL-2006
The Jackrabbit, Joseph City, Arizona, 2006
The Jackrabbit Trading Post was built in 1949, catering to post World War II travelers driving along the now abandoned US Route 66. Located between Winslow and Holbrook, Arizona, it is still in business, and best known for a series of huge highway signs featuring a giant jackrabbit and a row of smaller rabbits up top offering additional embellishment. The final sign proclaims: "Here it is.” I turn the sign into an example of pure scale incongruity by abstracting it, including only the head of the giant jackrabbit and only one of its tiny companions. My close-up vantage point also reveals the wear and tear on the billboard. It has been doing its job for many years now, and judging from the crowds in its gift shop, it will continue to attract tourists traveling on US Interstate 40, which runs parallel to the remnants of Route 66 across Northern Arizona.
12-JUL-2006
Tattoos new and used, Seligman, Arizona, 2006
Nobody buys cars in Seligman any more. This auto dealership has become a tattoo parlor, serving the bikers that often rumble along what is left of the abandoned Route 66. I was drawn to the scene by the incongruous juxtaposition of words -- both the old and the new.
To those willing to study details, there is still more incongruity awaiting them. The window sign itself becomes a pun, offering both “Tat” and “Toos.” A small collage of faceless bodies demonstrate the skills of the staff, and the prominent “Now Open” sign is contradicted by a padlock on the door.
10-JUN-2006
Florescence, Otter Crest Beach, DePoe Bay, Oregon, 2006
Many of the incongruous images in this gallery were the result of what I was able to do with the camera. Others, such as this one, are images of subjects that are simply incongruous in themselves. When I looked down into a tide pool at my feet and saw this huge florescent anemone suddenly emerge from beneath the kelp with flailing fingers, I was shocked to my core. I had never encountered such a sight before. All I had to do was to bend over and make this image, making sure that my angle of view stressed the emergence, rather than the whole anemone. It is this sense of emergence and the vivid green glow that gives this image its incongruous punch. I will never forget this moment, and I want anyone who looks at this image to share the feeling with me.
10-MAY-2006
Precious junk, Phoenix, Arizona, 2006
The concept of a steel fence protecting what appear to be junked cars seems incongruous to us at first. By photographing these cars behind the fence, instead of inserting my lens into the fence itself to make the picture, I am asking the viewer a question. Why must junk, which seemingly has little value, be secured in this way? The answer must come in verbal context – these cars are apparently antiques that are waiting in this junkyard for restoration. They are thus more than junk. They are soon to become rolling history.
23-FEB-2006
Double gulp, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2006
The iconic swan has a gracefully curved neck. But these swans are less than graceful as they search for a meal in the waters of a lagoon. By abstracting both of the heads, I double the incongruity – two underwater beaks are perhaps more efficient than one. Bubbles float among them, additionally incongruous evidence of swan breath. I compose the image by bringing in one swan from the upper left, the other from the upper right. Somewhere around the lower middle they must converge in common hunger. I leave the rest to the imagination of my viewers.
28-MAY-2003
Giants, Phoenix, Arizona, 2003
The saguaro cactus, the single most famous plant we have here in Arizona, can grow as high as 66 feet. Its branches are shaped liked candelabra, and every May those branches sport a crown of blossoms. These branches are from a single saguaro that is growing only a few hundred feet from my home. It is centuries old, and I wanted to stress its growth and scale in an incongruous way. I place the afternoon sun directly behind one of its blossoming branches to create a halo effect. I use a low vantage point and shoot almost straight up into the heart of the cactus, making its branches seem more massive at the bottom than at the top. The sun abstracts the huge branches, stressing the blossoms, which are splayed like giant hands on each branch. This saguaro almost seems human, a giant gleefully celebrating life.
29-MAY-2003
Dreamer, Phoenix, Arizona, 2003
I found this fellow relaxing at his desk in the reading room of a Phoenix library. By photographing him from a distance, and by shooting into the vast window at the end of the room, I make him seem incongruously small in comparison to the vast space he occupies. My vantage point also allows me to abstract him as a silhouette, making him unidentifiable -- a universal statement of relaxation. He gazes towards the distant city, perhaps dreaming with his eyes wide open, a study in scale incongruity.
23-MAR-2006
Streetcar riders, Hiroshima, Japan, 2006
This child has fallen asleep in an incongruous posture somewhere between standing up and lying down. His masked mother (many Japanese women wear masks as a health measure) appears to be oblivious to his awkward position. The other riders are not concerned either – they have their own cares. The boy’s mother is multi-tasking – not only supporting his weight, but also holding on to the straps of three shopping bags.
All of these elements express incongruous appearances or relationships and give this image its value as expression.
07-APR-2006
Clothing store, Guilin, China, 2006
A mannequin provides the incongruous element here. The young woman lifting the mannequin off the ground appears to consider it just so much dead weight. Even though she is shorter, she makes the job look easy. This size variation, as well as the indifferent expressions on both the mannequin and woman, gives this image its incongruity. The woman looks at us, and not the mannequin, which bring us into the picture. The ghostly figure of man in the frame on the wall adds a final surrealistic touch to the photograph.
27-MAR-2006
Buffalo, Taketomi Island, Japan, 2006
It is not often one sees a buffalo with a red flower behind its ear. It seemed like a perfect Japanese touch to me, and a highly incongruous one. I stress the incongruity by lowering my camera down to eye level with the buffalo, which is used to haul carts full of tourists around the island. It confronts us with its huge horns, yet the horns are made to seem
incongruously harmless with that red flower.
19-MAR-2006
Clashing portraits, Shanghai, China, 2006
A huge Mao button can't quite hide the allure of a vintage advertisement on the wall of an Old Shanghai antique stall. The two portraits superimposed upon each other almost randomly make an incongruous match. The Mao button abstracts the face on the ad as well. All we see of it is the eye peeking out at us. The scale, colors, styles and the genders clash, and so do the ideologies. Mao did not approve of capitalism, and that is what advertising is all about.
31-MAR-2006
Emphatic origins, Shuhe, China, 2006
This shop makes no secret of where its goods are manufactured. The rocking chair on the roof is incongruous placement. The slogan on the chair is incongruously scaled. The style of the roof is classical, the chair commercial. The primary colors of the chair are far from the muted colors of the roof. The image, just as the real thing, shocks, amuses, and makes it very clear who makes most of the stuff in our world.
26-MAR-2006
Park bench, Naha, Okinawa, Japan, 2006
This man has carefully lined a stone bench in Naha’s Matsuyama Park with cardboard, removed his shoes, and placed a bottle beneath his head. He sleeps soundly. His posture, the precise care he as brought to his comforts, the use of a hard bottle as a pillow, and the formal precision of the picture’s composition are all incongruous. The warm morning light adds an incongruous setting for such sadness. In fact, my initial thought upon seeing this man for the first time was that he had died and his body was laid out for public viewing. In short, this image presents what appears to be homelessness as ceremony – certainly an incongruous premise.
01-APR-2006
Layers, Lijiang, China, 2006
Lijiang, a city in Yunnan Province is an incongruous mix of more than a million people, includes thousands of Naxi, one of China's ethnic minorities. Art and life also clash incongruously just outside of town -- a billboard promoting a local attraction finishes a poor second to the real thing that soars behind it. A billboard showing a huge picture of the actual mountains that rise behind it is a major incongruity. So too is the scale of the tiny people, when compared to the massive scene they inhabit. This images is comprised of a series of incongruous layers – tiny people, huge billboard, an even larger building, all set before a massive range including the snowcapped 18,360 foot high Jade Dragon Mountain.
09-FEB-2006
Vandalized Tombstone, Protestant Cemetery, Silver Reef, Utah, 2006
Silver Reef, not far from Zion National Park, boomed from 1878 to 1882. In 1881 the world silver market dropped and by 1884 the town died. Only a handful remained, including James Huston, who died in 1889. He was seven years old. His tombstone in Silver Reef's Protestant Cemetery has been vandalized. What makes this image particularly incongruous is the vain attempt to make the shattered marble stone seem whole again by leaning the fragment against its pedestal. To me, the shattered stone represents a broken life, an appropriate symbol for the grave of a seven-year-old child. I organized the image on a diagonal so I could reveal the side as well as the front of the stone.
12-FEB-2006
Windmill, Oro Grande, California, 2006
Wind power may be at work on this farm near Route 66. Aeromotor of Chicago was founded over 100 years and is still making windmills to pump water out of the ground. The incongruity in this image comes from the hand painted pink trademark on the tailpiece of the windmill. Here, deep in the Mohave Desert is a vintage machine made in Chicago and still apparently doing what it was designed to do. I designed the photograph very simply. The light was hitting the gray circle of blades perfectly, dividing them into equal portions of light and shadow. I placed the circle on the right half of the frame, carrying the tail into the upper left hand corner, and framed it against a crystal clear pale blue desert sky.
12-FEB-2006
A Forest of Bottles, Oro Grande, California, 2006
Surely one of the most bizarre sights along Route 66 is Elmer Long's stand of trees made entirely of metal poles and old bottles, many of them from a collection he inherited from his father. His forest of glass has become an acknowledged piece of Mohave folk art. I have made part of Elmer’s glass forest into an incongruous image by finding a vantage point where I could squeeze a lot of bottles into a very small space. The tire at the base one of the trees offers a context and a quaint respite from the overwhelming mass of bottle branches. It is a sight we would never expect to encounter, and one that will difficult to forget. Elmer's forest of glass has become an acknowledged piece of Mohave folk art. You can view a portrait I made of Elmer Long by clicking on the thumbnail below:
01-NOV-2005
Jeans, Tuesday Market, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
These pants were part of an incongruous row of jeans displayed on mannequins without torsos in one of San Miguel’s largest markets. By taking them out of the context of the marketplace altogether, I try to make them seem as if they are conversing with each other. I picked the two pair with the greatest degree of contrast. The white pair, which enters the frame at left, carries a tag featuring the trade name and a photo of a gasping model. The blue pair seems stretched to the breaking point. The abstracted black background and flow of natural light over the fabric give the illusion of a third dimension. The longer we look at them, the more these pants seem to acquire an incongruous life of their own.
31-OCT-2005
Musical Encounter, Dolores Hidalgo, Mexico, 2005
Dolores Hidalgo, a small town near San Miguel de Allende, was the site of Mexico's first uprising against Spain in 1910. It’s also known for its famous Talavera pottery, and for its bizarre ice cream flavors, which include shrimp, tequila, and fried pork skin. This strange musical encounter on one of its street corners seems almost as odd. Each man stands before an identically colored frame, as if on public display. Their body language and costumes contrast sharply – one man is carefully dressed and stands tall and proud, while the other is casually dressed and seems utterly relaxed. Between them rests a large musical instrument, standing taller than the man who grips it with both hands. It makes a strange companion for street-talk in a small Mexican town.
31-OCT-2005
Divine Dance, Sanctuary of Atotonilco, Atotonilco, Mexico, 2005
Angels, demons, saints and martyrs intermingle here to create what some call “The Sistine Chapel of The Americas.” Thousands of pilgrims travel to this shrine each year to participate in religious exercises. Almost every wall and ceiling of this historic church, which was built in 1740, offers a riotous outpouring of Mexican religious folk art. Seen through contemporary eyes, the entire structure is a study in incongruity. This particular figure, which is attached to the wall by a rod, seems to be levitating when photographed from directly below. This low vantage point also calls attention to the grinning friar at right, who seems to be waving farewell. What we have here is a scene that is best described as a Dance of the Divine. The subjects are incongruous to begin with, and I’ve made them more so by where I chose to stand with camera and what I’ve included or rejected within my frame.
03-SEP-2005
Italian grapes, Croatian pigeon, Dolac Market, Zagreb, Croatia, 2005
I caught this trespasser in the Dolac, Zagreb's colorful fruit and vegetable market. Several incongruities bolster the expressive nature of this image. Pigeons and grapes do not usually go together, but I assume it finds the carton a comfortable spot to rest. (I guess this is why my wife makes me always wash my grapes before eating them!) There is an international flavor to this picture as well – the grapes come from across the Adriatic. I assume the pigeon is a local. The curved panels defining the bins in the background lend a historical or theological touch – the arches almost seem like a backdrop from a Renaissance painting.
04-SEP-2005
Snack Bar, Zagreb, Croatia, 2005
This snack bar is closed. The only munching going on here is that huge face chewing on the door handles, adding an incongruous dimension to the sea of graffiti in downtown Zagreb. The strange juxtaposition of lips and door handle is not the only incongruity here. The photo on the door has nothing at all to do with a snack bar. It is a fashion photo, making its very presence here another incongruity. What could it possibly be advertising and why in this manner? In any event, the young people marching by it do not even give it a glance. The huge size of head on the door is incongruously large when compared to the head of the passers-by. This image asks more questions of us than it provides answers. I am still wondering why the lady in the red hat is kissing that door handle!
11-SEP-2005
Gutted hotel, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 2005
Caught in the cross hairs of a tragic civil war that ravaged the former Yugoslavia, the ancient city of Dubrovnik was pounded with 2,000 shells in 1991 and 1992. Thirteen years later, as our ship approached the city, we saw this gutted hotel awaiting restoration. It symbolized to me the scale of the reconstruction task still underway here. The lone oarsman who floats before it represents the citizens of this city who will be the ultimate beneficiaries of its reconstruction. He is incongruously small and all by himself, which makes the rebuilding task ahead seem even more formidable.
03-SEP-2005
The Chase, Jelacic Square, Zagreb, Croatia, 2005
The equestrian statue of Ban Josip Jelacic -- depicting the hero who once led an army of 40,000 soldiers in a futile quest for Croatian independence -- now chases, equally futilely, an army of colorful balloons in Zagreb's Jelacic Square. I abstract and overwhelm the saber-wielding rider with the incongruous color, scale, and nature of the balloons. The grinning rabbit is the key to the colorful mélange. It offers still another incongruity. It seems happy. The fellow doing the chasing is not. As for my viewers – I suspect that in their imaginations they can already hear a loud popping sound coming from downtown Zagreb.
16-JUL-2005
Indifference, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005
Two women find themselves alone together in the corner of an exhibition booth at Santa Fe’s International Art Fair. They stand only inches apart, yet neither will acknowledge each other’s presence. One of them incongruously wears almost nothing. The other looks away – it’s as if the semi-nude person is invisible. Given the context of an art show, anything is possible. Even this. Actually, the figure at left is a shockingly lifelike sculpture, part of the exhibit itself. Once we realize this, the meaning of the image changes. It becomes more about the nature of viewing art than a bizarre personal encounter. This is a pre-visualized concept. I knew that pairing the lifelike sculpture with a living person would produce a thought provoking incongruous relationship. I simply pre-framed the sculpture, including a few surrounding paintings for context, and then waited for various art browsers to enter my viewfinder. This was the most incongruous encounter of them all, mainly because of the contrasts in costume, coloration, scale, and body language.
17-JUN-2005
Up in arms, Willemstad, The Netherlands, 2005
This is one of the most enigmatic advertisements I've seen on my travels. A pair of arms rising from a small moat in front of a shop seems to be promoting a number of Willemstad enterprises. I spot-metered on the white sign to make the water turn black, and conceal the origin of the arms. I use four layers to make the incongruity work –- first the inky black water, then the arms and hands, followed by the sign and flower basket, and finally the window frame with its white upright sides repeating the vertical thrusts of the arms and its mysterious black opening repeating the black water. The arms are simultaneously shocking and amusing. They simply don’t belong here, and that is what incongruity is all about.
15-JUN-2005
Body Piercing Shop, Antwerp, Belgium, 2005
Only a few blocks from the classical sculpture and voluptuous paintings at Antwerp's Rubens House, a body piercing shop attracts customers with its 21st century version of the human form. There are multiple incongruities in this image – the purple metallic body, the strange serpentine markings, the post bolting the head to the building, and the odd dance the figure manages to display under such distressing circumstances. Ultimately, this advertisement expresses little about body piercing. Rather, it seems to be incongruously suspended over the street to attract attention for its own sake. It certainly caught mine!
15-JUN-2005
Vintage chauffeur, Temse, Belgium, 2005
In Temse, we caught a lift from its wonderfully anachronistic official Town Crier. It was an incongruous sight -- riding with someone wearing a 19th century costume at the wheel of a 21st century car. Thanks to a 24mm wideangle lens, I was able to squeeze a good part of him and his colorful costume into this image from the extremely close vantage point of the front passenger seat, right down to the pins he collects from tourists who visit this small Belgian town from all over the world. His huge red mustache lends an authentic touch to a vintage profession. This image is a good example of subject incongruity -- in this case, it's the appearance of the subject itself, rather than how we make the picture, that creates the incongruity.
07-JUN-2005
Bizarre bottle openers, Brussels, Belgium, 2005
Every souvenir shop in Brussels sells hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of crudely manufactured Asian souvenirs of the city’s famous Mannekin Pis fountain. In this shop window, dozens of them, looking almost nothing like the original, are lined up in precise ranks. The sight of so many multi-colored miniature statues of urinating children lined up in rows was bizarre enough in itself. But these were not only miniature replicas – they apparently also function as bottle openers. The apparatus sprouting from their heads makes them even more incongruous. My tight vantage point intensifies the rhythmic repetition of both the ludicrous figures and the bottle openers, creating a sense of incongruity that implies regimentation and relentless commercialism. They are intended, of course, as amusement, but when seen en masse, the incongruous effect is surreal and profoundly unsettling, a comment on the nature of worldwide tourism and the commercialism that feeds on it.
19-JUN-2005
Freeloader, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2005
One of the many herons that feed on the fish in the canals and rivers of Amsterdam awaits a free meal, courtesy of a fisherman on the Amstel River. The fisherman incongruously appears to be conversing with the bird, perhaps even gesturing to it. Actually, he is just reaching for his fishing line. This image is a study in a spatial relationship – the water in the foreground and background isolate the narrow pier, and put bird and man on the same plane – quite alone with each other. The bird keeps its distance – it extends its beak toward the man just as the man extends his arm towards the bird, but will come no closer. The man appears to be talking to it, but I doubt if the bird is listening. All it wants is a free breakfast, which it never got. The man did not catch any fish while I was watching this little encounter, and the bird flew off in a huff. Yet they did offer us what appears to be an incongruous conversation. For a few moments, I even thought they were old friends.
18-JUN-2005
Ice Cream Frenzy, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2005
This oversized cartoonish sculpture is intended to draw customers into a Leiden ice cream shop. Overflowing with simulated melted ice cream, it obviously must be doing its job well -- the store was overflowing with customers. Both the sculpture and my image are based on incongruous exaggeration in scale as well as behavior. My image gives no clue as to the actual size of the sculpture – that is why I made it as I did. I leave that to the imagination of the viewer. The behavior of the kid is also an incongruous exaggeration – sitting in a puddle of melting ice cream is hardly a pleasure, yet he seems to be shoveling it in and enjoying every drop. The three lights glowing in the background add a theatrical context, and one even serves as a symbolic crown. It’s the kind of image that may make some queasy and others salivate. The sculpture may be based on Dutch humor, yet I found it amusing, and it certainly drew a crowd of hungry ice cream lovers into the shop.
08-JUN-2005
Leafy call, Place du Petit Sablon, Brussels, Belgium, 2005
Almost hidden in the dense foliage surrounding the intimate grounds of this lovely Brussels park is a fellow on a cell phone. I noticed that he held his left hand in the identical position of the marble gentleman who peeks out at us from behind a tree. They may come from different times, yet share a common posture. The interplay of gestures between a man of stone and a real person is incongruous. The scale of the statue and the expanse of leaves compared to the size of the man are also incongruous. And finally, the sight of a gentleman wearing a suit and tie peeking out at us from a mass of foliage is also incongruous. He listens and talks with intensity. It seems as if all of those leaves are listening intently as well.
25-MAY-2005
Squeezing Nature, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2005
It is just a simple picture of a dark hotel lobby on a quiet spring morning. There is, however, something in this image that is jarringly incongruous. A long trail of light sweeps us deeply into the frame, tracking its way across a multi-colored carpet, climbs on to the newspaper being read by a distant figure, and then flies out the window into the palm trees. That light trail is caused by the mid morning sun shining through an overhead skylight. It represents the diminishing role of nature in our lives. We allow the sun to enter our places of leisure, yet we squeeze it down to a narrow vestigial ribbon of light. The distant figure does not even seem to be aware of nature’s incongruous presence. He is otherwise occupied. But we can see what he does not see, and hopefully we may think about its meaning.
03-FEB-2005
Smoke, Bagan, Myanamar, 2005
This woman puffs on a massive cigar wrapped in a banana leaf. When she saw me aiming my camera her way, she made sure to wreathe her face in a fragrant coil of smoke. This is a good example of layered incongruity. The longer we look into this image, the more incongruities we see. The base incongruity, of course is age. Smokers are not supposed to live as long as non-smokers, yet here is a person robustly smoking at a very advanced age. Then comes a layer of scale incongruity. People normally smoke smaller things than this massive hand-rolled cigar. And finally, there is the incongruity presented by the layer of smoke that coils around her nose and cheek. It hangs and droops around her face in the same pattern that her turban droops around her head. I used strong sidelight here to stress one side of her face and cigar. The rest of her, including the hand that holds the cigar, is in shadow. I allow the background to go entirely black, removing all distractions.
30-JAN-2005
Full Bus, en route to Pakse, Laos, 2005
A typical Lao bus, brimming with passengers and their baggage, hurtles down the road just in front of us. I shot this picture through the front window of our own small bus. Many of these passengers are visiting backpackers en route to Pakse, the largest town in Southern Laos. There is a double incongruity here – the bus seems to be dangerously overloaded, with little thought given to the passengers safety. Such a small vehicle, loaded with so many passenger, baskets and baggage, presents a scale incongruity. Yet the people on it seem to be quite comfortable with their precarious situation. For some it is probably a great adventure. There is always incongruity in a situation that appears dangerous or difficult, yet is somehow being enjoyed at the same time.
15-JAN-2005
Making Contact, Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand, 2005
I found these wooden figures in a crowded antique shop window. From a distance, they were lost in a mass of assorted antiques. Yet the closer I came to them with my camera, the more incongruous their relationship became. I don’t know if the shop’s owner intended to present this intimate a sculptural relationship or not, but I was able to create my own incongruous juxtaposition by isolating and then linking them both within my frame. The unclothed younger figure at right, which probably represents a baby, seems to be emerging from an ornately carved golden door, and through hand gestures, seems to be trying to make contact with the clothed and somewhat disinterested adult figure at left. I don’t know if the figures were created at different times by different artists, or if they were made as a set, but I found the manner of display suggesting a generational communication problem. There are several incongruities here – a juxtaposition of contrasting attitudes, ages, orientation, and level of clothing. I tried to make a picture that would ask as many questions of the viewer as the baby figure probably wants to ask the adult figure.
(The answers to those questions depend largely upon the context we bring to it. Are these figures religious in nature? It would be incongruous in itself to find Christian biblical figures in a Thai antique shop. Or do they represent figures from Eastern theology? Perhaps a Thai viewer, such as my frequent comment contributor Nut, would have a better context for such figures than I do. She was our guide that day in Bangkok’s weekend market, but I don’t know if she ever saw this window. I hope she may be able to add some contextual insights here.)
No Photos Allowed, Vientiane, Laos, 2005
A few Laotian temples do not allow photographers to make pictures inside of them. I was fascinated by this sign, wrapped in ruined film and anchored by a beer can. I found it incongruous in itself to be actually making a photo of a no-photos-allowed sign. There were several levels of incongruity at work here, and I tried to take advantage of all of them. In many ways, the camera and medium itself are incongruous in this context. The primitive drawing of a vintage single lens reflex camera and the actual spool of exposed film seem in some ways to be as archaic in their way as the ancient temple is in its way. Removing exposed film from a camera and wrapping it around the sign uses incongruity to make its own point. The use of the beer can, as an anchor for the sign is also incongruous, considering it stands on what I presume must be sacred ground. I placed the exposed film in the lower left hand corner of my frame so that it leads the eye up to the sign. I placed the sign off to the left, incongruously comparing its aging design with the aging façade of the temple itself to its right.
Looking for answers, Pakse, Laos, 2005
A study in contrast, this photograph compares the conscious process of thought to the unconscious. Two monks, side by side on the altar of a Buddhist temple, show different ways to find answers to their questions. One dreams, the other wonders. It is an incongruous juxtaposition of attitudes, and an incongruous place to sleep. At least that’s how it seems from my Western point of view. I am sure Laotian monks think otherwise.
Reading with Buddha, Yangon, Myanmar, 2005
The Burmese seem to live their religion rather than just practice it. Buddhism is pervasive, and can seem to outsiders as very casual. This fellow incongruously relaxes on the floor with a book in one of Shwedagon’s many temples. In photographing the man, I stress his bare feet. All who enter Burma’s Buddhist temples must remove both shoes and socks, an act of humility. He bares his soles to us. He lies upon a hard floor. He is a humble man. Yet he also turns away from Buddha to read his book. This is an incongruity, and it helps this photograph tell its story.
22-NOV-2004
Watching Us, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2004
When I noticed the faceless cardboard figure wearing a vest and shirt propped up in the window of a Santa Fe clothing shop, I saw the possibilities for an incongruous image immediately. All I needed to do was to create the most effective context for it. I tried shooting it straight on, then from below. I tried first one window, and then two – there was a similar clothing display in every window of this old building.
Then I realized that the image expressed its incongruity most effectively when the bizarre widow display comes to us slowly, as a surprise, rather immediately. I backed off at an angle, obscuring two of the three window displays in the process. I brought a lovely branch full of golden Aspen leaves into the frame, complementing the soft yellow color of the brickwork. All of this context works in such harmony, that the bizarre figure watching us from the first window may well go unseen by some of us for at least moment or two, and then it suddenly stops us in our tracks with its mysterious effect. If some viewers do not take the time to read this verbal context, they might get quite a jolt when they finally notice that blank face looking at them through that window. The message: all this beauty, and suddenly, little more than a ghost for our thoughts.
17-OCT-2004
On the Road, Beyond Sonora Pass, California, 2004
After threading our way through the snow-swept Sonora Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, we descended into a valley of rolling hills and undulating wet roads that cross the land where California and Nevada come together. I made this image, one of the most unusual perspectives I’ve ever photographed, with my 432mm telephoto lens. Looking back into the mountains we had just traversed, the rain-slicked road glistens in the late afternoon sun, and the incongruous sense of compression offered by this very long lens gives the scene the look of an old watercolor. It offers us an unusual way to perceive depth perspective – as our eyes go back into this image, everything seems to flatten and bunch together. The road itself suddenly seems to end and not reappear. The image becomes impressionistic rather than realistic. It is, in essence, both a painting and a photograph, all in one.
19-OCT-2004
Silent Howl, Walker, California, 2004
This store clerk is so involved in running her rural general store that she no longer seems to notice those silent howls coming from just behind her. I am always looking for incongruous juxtapositions such as this as I travel. I knew the wide-open mouth of the stuffed coyote would provide an incongruous basis for my picture, but I needed to compare it to an appropriate gesture from the clerk. When she spontaneously covered her own mouth (To stifle a howl?) I knew I had the shot.
28-AUG-2004
Flowery Crown, St. Peters Port, Guernsey, UK, 2004
Why is this French policeman (or soldier?) hiding behind a basket of flowers in a British town? Actually, this face adorns the side of a local pub. The flowers spill over it from a balcony. I had to move my camera position until that hanging tendril curved just below the eye, not over it or next to it, in order to create this whimsically incongruous juxtaposition. As for the answer to that question, it might have something to do with the fact that Guernsey, a dependency of the British Crown, is an island in the English Channel, just a few miles from the French Coast.
25-AUG-2004
Bookshop, Kinsale, Ireland, 2004
A mystical figure seems to spring to life from the wall of a Kinsale bookstore as geese around her seem to incongruously fly off into those green trees. The only thing that was missing was a leprechaun! The key to this shot was carefully moving the camera in to create a tight frame, in order to merge that tree to the sign. We don’t see where this tree begins or ends, but my purposeful merger offers real leaves for those fictional geese, while the mystical figure seems to emerge out of the leaves as well.
01-SEP-2004
Sheer Scale, The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, 2004
Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim, a 350,000 square foot colossus, is the focal point of a $1.5 billion redevelopment plan for Bilbao. Its revolutionary architecture remains controversial. Locals call it the "Californian Cauliflower", while the New York Times hailed it as the first great building of the 21st century. No matter what your view of it, the sheer scale of its central piece of massive titanium sheathing is hard to ignore. I shot this picture on an overcast day, from a position just across the Nervion River from the museum. Focusing my spot meter on the titanium panel, which is angled so that it is reflecting light into the camera, I was able to darken the panels and glass behind it. I waited these people to walk below the titanium panel -- they appear so small in comparison. This scale incongruity tells us just how enormous that panel really is.
26-AUG-2004
On St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, Ireland, 2004
The oldest and largest of Dublin's spacious "squares" is St. Stephen's Green, which is actually a sprawling inner-city park. Thousands of residents and visitors can vanish into the countryside for a few hours, yet still be only minutes from Dublin's crowded pavements. This woman is the very picture of relaxation. She has removed her shoes, and pulled her sweater up over her face to turn day into night. Yet her knees are raised and legs are crossed, suggesting not sleep, but rest. The incongruity, of course, is the anonymity created by the red sweater. Its color is the focal point of the picture. I positioned her at the bottom of my frame, which creates the bed that St. Stephens Green offers.
19-JUN-2004
Morning exercise, Beijing, China, 2004
When I saw these four men exercising alongside a canal in a Beijing park, I immediately noticed the incongruous juxtaposition of the perfectly executed landscaping and the imperfectly executed exercise. The essence of the humor comes through a comparison of forms – the triangular flower beds are perfect in every respect, but the arm positions of the exercisers are out of synch and thus imperfect. Of course the men have no idea their futility is being incongruously compared to the perfection of their surroundings, and therein lies the humor of this image.
19-JUN-2004
Mao and stuff, Beijing, China, 2004
We had lunch with a Beijing family, whose home featured a porcelain tribute to Mao displayed side by side with Chinese ceramics of a less political nature. I framed my picture so Mao is only partially included, boxed in and shadowed. He’s there, but not as complete or brightly illuminated as the pottery surrounding him. His wave goes unanswered. I intend this image as an incongruous metaphor for how Mao is presently regarded in China. For most, he’s the past, and the future is now.
21-JUN-2004
Herbal Market, Xian, China, 2004
Our visit to Xian took us to a herbal market featuring remedies that have kept Chinese healthy for centuries. This salesman, however, places a nap high on his own health agenda. I thought the juxtaposition of all those healthy herbs with the dozing man was incongruous, and moved my camera’s wideangle lens in on top of both to make this shot.
22-JUN-2004
Mah Jong Game outside Xian, China, 2004
Our group was taken to a small village outside Xian that rarely sees tourists. Its narrow streets were lined with shops filled with goods designed for local, not tourist, consumption. I noticed the proprietors of this clothing shop playing Mah Jong while waiting for customers. A mannequin in the orange tee shirt waits for his turn. The mannequin looks more alive than some of the players, an incongruity that makes this photo so amusing.
28-JUN-2004
Riding high, near Chongqing, China, 2004
On the way from Chengdu to Chongqing, I noticed this gang of live roosters and geese somehow affixed to the roof of an intercity bus. Characteristic of rural China, this incongruous scene made a strange and unsettling photograph.
14-JUN-2004
Commuters, Nanjing Road, Shanghai, China, 2004
I couldn't help but notice the difference between the energy levels of the model featured in the iced tea advertisement on the side of this Shanghai bus, and those of the commuters seated just above it. The incongruous juxtaposition of the worlds of advertising and commuting gave me a story-telling image.
03-JUL-2004
Double-take, Hong Kong, China, 2004
A stream of Kowloon shoppers do their best to ignore the handbills being thrust at them by this woman. I chose to double her task by reflecting it in a nearby window. Reflections often create incongruous relationships. This one is not only amusing but tells a story of frustration – even if there were two of her, and twice as many pedestrians, she would still be coming up empty.
13-JUN-2004
The remembered and forgotten, Shanghai, China, 2004
Shanghai is a city of incongruous contrasts. In People's Park, a heroic, large scale sculpture recalls the heroism of Shanghai students who died in a long ago revolution. Yet beneath the legs of this sculpture we can also see the legs of an unknown vagrant who is among the forgotten of Shanghai.
17-APR-2004
USS Midway and Friend, San Diego, California, 2004
The hull of the famed US Aircraft Carrier Midway, now a museum in San Diego Harbor, dwarfs this small Naval Security ship on patrol. I made this photograph from the opposite shore with a 210mm telephoto converter lens, and then cropped off the flight deck to abstract the Midway, and make its massive hull seem even larger. This power of this image comes from its scale incongruity – the contrast of the small ship cruising along under the wave-like pattern painted on the side of the Midway’s hull. To me, the idea of this tiny boat guarding what once was one of the largest warships on earth was incongruous in itself. I simply had to find an appropriate vantage point, choose the right lens length, and capture the right moment to make it work as a photograph.
14-APR-2004
Afghan Dinner, San Diego, California, 2004
On my travels, I always carry a pocket camera with me, even when going to dinner at a restaurant. I want to be ready to explore any picture opportunity that might come my way. While visiting San Diego, I ate at an Afghan restaurant that featured a decorative wall hanging based on Steve McCurry’s haunting portrait of an Afghan girl. I noticed an elegant table setting just below it, and two silhouetted diners in the background enjoying a delicious Afghan meal. From the vantage point of my table, the piercing eyes of the Afghan girl seem to be looking into our souls – eyes that have known only poverty and suffering, now staring incongruously at us in a place of plenty. Using Canon S-400 “digital elph” pocket camera, I was able to unobtrusively make this shot without flash at 1/80th of a second at ISO 200. By placing a universal symbol of need within a scene of abundance, I create an incongruity that asks questions and demands answers from the viewer.
15-APR-2004
Going Nowhere Fast, Mission Beach, San Diego, California
While shooting in Mission Beach with my fellow pbase artist Tim May, we noticed a sunbather reading a book while reclining on the narrow ledge of a seawall. What made this picture opportunity particularly interesting to both of us was the incongruous placement of those huge red arrows and the speed limit for cyclists posted just beneath her, as well as the additional incongruity of the "No Parking" sign she is ignoring. Since she is otherwise engaged at the moment, she is oblivious to that speed limit – yet the thrust of the arrows seem ready to momentarily send her flying in either direction. I adjusted my vantage point to place the background surf just above her book, and waited for her to eventually shift the position of the book so that it did not merge into her profile. Only then did I shoot. The rhythmic repetition of the horizontal lines of the sky, sea, surf, body, wall, arrows, and sidewalk generate much implied movement, all of it juxtaposed against a subject going nowhere fast.
16-APR-2004
Flying feet, Belmont Amusement Park, San Diego, California, 2004
It is an incongruous sight, indeed, to see ten pairs of feet dangling in the air at once. But that’s what’s happening here as ten kids enjoy an amusement park ride that lifted them into the air and then abruptly dropped them with a jarring bounce. I stood beneath them, and using a wideangle lens to stretch the perspective, I shot as their twin pink chariots rose into a deep blue sky, placing a roller coaster behind them as context. This vantage point has abstracted the image by taking away the heads and bodies and leaving only the legs to plead for help
23-DEC-2003
Birdstorm, Callao, Peru, 2003
As our cruise ship entered the harbor at Callao, Peru, I noticed great swarms of seabirds flying back and forth. Using a telephoto converter lens on my digital camera, I made a number of test pictures of birds in flight, but they said nothing about where we were. I then framed this harbor scene – featuring two small fishing boats in the foreground, a long stone breakwater in the middle, and a large freighter and a cluster of fishing boats on top. I waited until a mass of birds flew into this frame and I juxtaposed them against the harbor scene. Varying in size and wing position, they blanket the frame, yet magically leave space for the boats to float through them. It is an incongruous photograph – and one that almost offers us the sound of flapping wings and shrill cries.
18-DEC-2003
Containerama, Gatun Locks, Panama Canal, 2003
The spectacle of a huge container ship making it’s way through the Panama Canal with barely an inch to spare makes a perfect subject for scale incongruity. I cropped the scene boldly in my frame, showing only a part of the ships hull and a fraction of the containers piled high on its decks. In the lower right hand corner of this picture a ramp rises toward the ship, and three workers seem to be following along in its wake. By comparing that heap of containers to the three fellows ambling along behind this ship, I try to express the importance of the canal itself, a vital seaway that moves 200 million tons of through its locks every year. This mass of containers is just a tiny fraction of that enormous payload.
23-DEC-2003
Shoe Store Window, Lima, Peru, 2003
The contrast between this huge white foot and the shiny black shoes produces a startling scale incongruity. I shot from an angle to avoid getting my own reflection in the image. That angle makes the picture work on still another level as it brings into play the surrounding buildings reflected on both the shiny shoe leather and on the glass of the shop window. Reflections are distortions of reality. The huge foot is also a distortion. Together, they create a surrealistic view of what a passing Peruvian might take for granted. I saw still another incongruity in those bold words – they tell us these shoes are made by hand, yet they are written upon on a foot.
23-DEC-2003
On the Pan American Highway, Trujillo, Peru
Most incongruous pictures are there for the taking – we just have to be able to appreciate the nature of the incongruity and then make the most of it in our pictures. Every now and then, however, an incongruity will appear in a flash and then disappear. To capture such things in a photo, we must anticipate what could happen before it happens and be ready for it if it does. That’s what happened here. I was sitting in the front seat on the upper deck of a bus traveling along the Pan American Highway, when I noticed what looked like a huge bale of plant material rolling down the highway towards me. I had time to turn on the camera, frame, and shoot at a number of focal lengths. When I looked at the picture I had just made, I was stunned. My viewing screen showed a very well used truck carrying a load that seemed to defy the laws of gravity, and when I magnified the image, I also noticed several people huddling underneath the cargo just behind the cab. Bringing products to market in Latin America can be an adventure in incongruity.
23-APR-2003
Art speaks, Bratislava, Slovakian Republic, 2003
This abandoned building in Bratislava is made less of an eyesore by the efforts of local art students who turned every door and window into a visual statement. I move in to remove the building from its surrounding context, making it seem even more incongruous.
21-MAR-2003
Snowy morning on Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2003
This subject is incongruous in itself, a visual pun. A bronze statue, blinded by wet snow, pleads for help. Sometimes the worse the weather, the better the picture opportunities.
18-APR-2003
Big smile in the Prater, Vienna, Austria, 2003
The most expressive image I made while walking through in an amusement park in Vienna's Prater, was of a giant clown supporting one the park's many thrill rides. Its brilliantly colored and grotesquely exaggerated features offered an incongruity in scale. I moved to within a few yards of the huge grinning head, taking a vantage point almost directly underneath it, to emphasize the enormity of these features.
01-DEC-2002
Saleswoman, Nosy Kombo, Madagascar, 2002
As a tourist, I find myself confronted by vendors of all kinds. But this particular saleswoman in Madagascar incongrously stood out from the crowd. She had painted her face in a decorative pattern, becoming as colorfully embellished as the products she is selling.
20-FEB-2000
Roots at the door, Angkor, Cambodia, 2000
Scale incongruity takes over this image, as the giant roots of a Banyan tree slowly devour an ancient temple at Ta Prohm, near the ancient temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
23-APR-2003
Gotcha! Bratislava, Slovakian Republic, 2003
This clever street sculpture lampoons tourists who bear cameras in downtown Bratislava. I used a wideangle lens, moved behind the statue, and waited for an unsuspecting couple to walk past it. The result is an incongrous image of art imitating life.
01-AUG-2002
Dog bed, Bering Island, Russia, 2002
Bering Island, adrift in the vast Bering Sea, is one of the most remote islands on earth. There are no roads. Ancient military vehicles often provide the transportation, and for this particular dog, a place to curl up and sleep. I incongruously juxtaposed this fuzzy Russian dog with its bed of unforgiving steel.
27-APR-2003
Changing the Guard, Prague, Czech Republic, 2003
The guard is changed hourly at Prague Castle, home to the Czech government. I saw this father and son waiting under the entrance to the courtyard for the ceremony. I previsualized this picture, hoping that they would stay where they were as the old guard passed them on the way to their barracks. They did, and when the guards passed them, I took this picture, an incongruous pairing of formal with casual groupings.
28-JUL-2003
Clouds and Domes, Kizhi Island, Russia, 2003
These fingerlike wisps of clouds gathered in the sky over this 400 year old church on Kizhi Island in Russia's Lake Onega. As I changed my vantage point, I was able to make them incongruously explode into the sky over the church's ancient wooden domes, resulting in a far more mystical image than a picture of only the church by itself.
14-DEC-2002
Descent from the dune, Namib Desert, Namibia, 2002
Some of the largest sand dunes on earth can be found in Namibia's Namib Desert. My photos of the dunes themselves did not effectively convey their vast size, until I was able to incorporate something else in the picture to give these dunes a sense of scale. The incongruity in scale between the tourists descending the dunes, the man among the trees at the base of the dune, and the vast wall of sand itself tells us how huge these dunes really are.
Rowing the Arno, Florence, Italy, 1999
I based this shot on scale incongruity, contrasting the tiny boat in the lower right hand corner to the expanse of water beyond it. My vantage point was from the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence,
Grave of Karl Marx, Highgate Cemetery, London, England, 1985
By using a long telephoto lens, I was able to compress the foreground, middleground, and background to make this enormous marble head of Karl Marx suddenly loom before us within a forest full of graves. Highgate, a wooded Victorian city of the dead sprawling in the middle of suburban London, is rich in such incongruities. This image places us in the midst of this dark and haunted forest -- the scale incongruity of the oversized head of Marx sends a shiver down our backs.
Four years after I posted this image on pbase, a blog entry about Karl Marx used this photograph as an illustration.