The
Corner of Central and Southern
My
small frame consisted of the intersection at Central and Southern. This
intersection has large amounts of traffic. Semi trucks bellow smoke as
they chug their way through the light. A man on a bike waits patiently
for the light to change. Two girls walk across the street and stop to use
the payphone despite the fact that it’s phone books are missing. Electrical
lines hang dangerously low, almost sitting a top the buildings. As my frame
becomes larger, I can see the stores located on these corners. McDonalds,
Compass Bank, Tune-up Masters, a muffler shop. I also notice the shopping
carts. Four in all, two tipped over, and the other two pushed up against
a pole. Now I see the dumpster next to the bank. It looks as though it’s
been set on fire a couple of times. Now I notice the guy on the other side
of the street selling flowers (it’s a little bit early for Valentines Day).
I watch him for a few minutes, and then my attention is drawn back to the
other side of the street. My group is ready to go. I notice an older man
wearing suspenders; he nods at me as I get up to leave. I could sit and
watch this corner all day if it weren’t for the fact that we must continue
with our research of South Phoenix.
***Shot / Reverse Shot- an observation from 2 perspectives***
I have just eaten a huge Mexican food meal at Los Dos Molinos.My group and I are walking (well, somewhat walking, after all I did just eat a lot of food) up Central Avenue, documenting the businesses along the way.We stop outside of the “American Child Care Center”; I stop to take a picture and debate about going in.What kinds of questions will I ask the people inside? “What kinds of people come in here?”They’ll think I’m stupid.I linger outside of the center, standing next to a maroonish red car.Suddenly, I notice the girl inside peering out at me thru the blinds…
“You
guys, that lady in there is staring at me,” I say to the members of my
group.“Let’s just keep going, we
can talk to someone from a different shop.Besides,
I bet this is her car.She probably
thinks we’re going to steal it or something.Come
on, let’s go.”