picture window # 8 ~ Walking down Main Street, gettin' to know the concrete
Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 08:47AM 
A picture window in a picture window • clickto embiggenA few days ago, while looking for an Eggleston Tricycle picture to link to, I came across a blog by the name of Condition Uncertain.
What caught my attention was the masthead title of Like A Brown Bird Nesting In A Texaco Sign with a subhead of "An intoxication comes over the man who walks long and aimlessly through the streets. With each step, the walk take on greater momentum; ever weaker grow the temptations of shops, of bistros, of smiling women, ever more irresistible the magnetism of the next street corner, of a distant mass of foliage, of a street name."--Walter Benjamin.
As if that wasn't enough to pique my interest, there was also this quote, "Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen." --Robert Bresson, which was followed by ""Like a brown bird nesting in a Texaco sign, I've got a point of view" is a line from the Silver Jews song "I'm Getting Back Into Getting Back Into You." This blog is a slice of my point of view.
I was hooked. If someone were trying to suck me into an identity theft / money scam / nefarious scheme, the person (Mark Burnette) who had set this little web up had sunk the hook deep into where I live. I just had to explore deeper in the bowels of what, IMO, has turned out to be a very interesting ... well ... uhmm ... I'm not really sure what to call it, but, whatever it is, it is interesting.
Mark Burnette has created a blog that is one part photography, another part poetry, another part song lyrics, another part glimpse of southern life in these here United States. And, when it's all put together, what you end up with is a pretty damn immersive experience. It's not something that I can take in in large doses but it's is fun to return to again and again and pick up in small bits and pieces.
That said, I find that a lot of the photography - especially that of the landscape in and around Mark's home territory - is a genuinely honest and interesting look at life "as it is". There is a distinct nod to Shore and Eggleston in his pictures, but Mark has managed to avoid being a copycat clone of either.
All in all, it appears to me that Mark Burnette, like the brown bird nesting in a Texaco sign, does have a point of view that makes visible what, without him, might perhaps never have been seen. I hope he continues to walk long and aimlessly through the streets, to delve deeper into that state of intoxication with even greater momentum and that he gives us more of the ever more irresistible magnetism of the next street corner, of a distant mass of foliage, of a street name as he sees them.
PS one caveat - Mark needs to figure out how to make smaller pop-up images - most are way too big to fit on anything but a 40 inch display.
Reader Comments (1)
Thank you sharing Mark Burnette's blog site. I definitely agree with your opinion here...except for your caveat at the end.
Watching people look at paintings in museums, I've noticed that they first stand back to take in the entire picture, then move up close to examine the details. That is how I see the purpose of the "pop" image, and why I want to see a larger version of the file there.
Besides, it is impossible in the blog format to make an image that is just the right size for everyone!