This is a picture I shot March 17, 1989. It was for a Social Comment assignment in my Photo I class my freshman year of high school. I dug it up recently because it’s the one picture I think of when I think about my earliest interest in photojournalism and street photography. I had a discussion with my high school photography teacher, Ken Engquist, a few months ago and it’s eerie how much of what he taught us about Social Comment has actually stayed with me and, in turn, been passed on to my students. It’s cool to think he was showing us Robert Frank way before I even knew just who Robert Frank was. As for this image, and looking at it for exactly what it is, I can only see one hint of something that seems to be rising to the surface—the idea of photographing “the Other.” Looking back on my sheltered corner of the world that was 1989, it’s more than a bit endearing now to see a picture of somebody who I clearly thought of as an outsider. I have no idea where in Wichita this was shot, but I do know gas stations don’t look like this anymore (single pump, no awning). I’d love to see what else I shot on the same roll for this assignment.
