MonoVisions Photography Awards - International Black and White Photo Contest

HONORABLE MENTION

Photo © Emily Sims

TITLE: Superior Social Distancing

I had to visit the town of Superior, Arizona to help a client in the middle of the pandemic. Since my camera is usually with me, I decided to capture the town. It’s a charming western location with an aging feel to it. Everything about it seems to be from a bygone era. I noticed motorcyclists sharing a bench, a lone lowrider on Main Street, an ominous funeral home, a man experiencing homelessness, a temporarily closed art gallery, gorgeous landscapes, a restaurant with a Memory Lane street sign planted out front, and a windmill that took me down a Memory Lane of my own. The windmill seemed to give me social ties to the area while practicing social distancing. I am a veteran or the United States Air Force and my technical training was conducted in San Angelo, Texas. The windmill was manufactured in San Angelo. Superior was captivating. It was simultaneously charming and eerie. It was full of irony and oddities. The men outside the bar seemed to be the very definition of Americana. However, the funeral home catapulted me straight back to reality. We need to stay six feet apart or we will end up six feet under. Unfortunately, it didn’t take a virus for the homeless man to feel the sting of social isolation. Sadly, he had already been distanced from society. The empty streets were Schrödinger's cat; dead and alive. A buzz of excitement could be found here and there, but the town was mostly quiet. Billboards directing residents to wash their hands and help prevent the spread of COVID-19 dotted the highway. Superior, Arizona showcased great antiquity while also highlighting current events. It demanded to be looked at through the lens of my camera.

AUTHOR: Emily Sims UNITED STATES

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