See — Arizona, 2015

"See" — Arizona, 2015 Fine Art Print — Roadside Series by Thomas Hoeffgen

One photographer photographs another.

Travis Gumbs — style blogger, one of the four artists on the Roadside trip — has his camera up, eye to the viewfinder, framing something only he can see. Behind him, a United States Army aircraft sits gutted and open to the sky, fuselage stripped back, weeds growing through the landing gear, the wing still holding its shape above his right shoulder like a canopy.

This is what happens when you bring creative people to a boneyard. Nobody stands around. Everyone starts looking.

The frame is close — tight on his face, the camera filling the center, the derelict aircraft looming large behind him. Two machines for capturing the world: one that flew, one that sees. Both in the same frame, both still doing their job in different ways.

The Arizona sun is hard and direct. Everything is sharp. White t-shirt, sunglasses, medium format film camera, crumbling military aircraft. The image has no irony in it — just two people doing what they do, one of them in the frame, one of them behind it.

From the Roadside series — a road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles along Route 66, shot on assignment for Timberland that evolved into a self-published book and PDN Photo Annual Award winner (2016).

Available as a museum-quality fine art print on premium archival paper, in multiple sizes. Signed by the artist.