Working in a small town affords the ability to see changes around you. There is a water and sewer construction project that has been digging up White Street for over a year now. The second short stretch is in the works, and significant work is left to do.
I have been talking with the subcontractors for the city and they now call me ‘the guy with the camera.’ I told the gentleman in charge one day how interesting it had been to see these large trenches dug and the complex process of sealing concrete pipes into man-holes and filled back in like it was never there. His response was, “our work is tough because no one ever gets to see how great our work really is.”
So, I use the opportunity to document this secret process of digging, creating and covering back up. I also use the process to try out different lenses, cameras and film. Today, I have used Kodak Tri-X at 400 in a Nikon F2. See my separate discussion about the Nikon F2 system and lenses. The lens today is the 35mm f/1.4 AIS, an old computation, but a lens still available for purchase new in the United States and abroad.
The guys that are digging and connecting pipe are in these deep trenches at least a foot or more over their head. The large commercial scoop digs and pulls out dirt so that a concrete pipe can be connected to the man-hole already set. They talk, plan and execute.
