MEEKER | On a hot sunny day on a photography walk, I came across an alleyway with the entrance of a building that forms junk into new things, like a piece of metal into a hat rack. It was instantly intriguing, being able to look at makeshift wheels and hat racks, art pieces made from wrecks of twisted metal. While I was taking photos of these different objects made out of junk, like a weird-looking coat rack or a sign made out of different metal pieces, I looked up at the fence that had barbed wire on the cusp of it, and noticed that there were pairs of cowboy boots hanging down on the fence by loose barbed wire.
Taking the photo of the specific pair of boots that had the toes completely bent, pointing towards the sky, was interesting. Empty boots, weathered and abandoned. The sun was hitting just right, showing the beauty of being hung by the hostile barbed wire exposed to weather, to sun, to night, to frost. It was something different and something that I had never even thought of taking a photo of before. Calling this photo “Hung Boot” seemed to be a good title for the piece.
Being a photographer in Rio Blanco County is a gift because of the beauty that lies within it, the nature, the animals, the architecture, and even the people who reside within it. Being able to capture moments in time in Rio Blanco County is special, and being able to show what a lens can see to the human eye is important. Because in a small town like Meeker, the human eye will see past the dark shadows, the messiness, loneliness, and neglect. But the mind wants to see everything else that it can, the human eye will look away from the detail that resides in the simplest of scenes. A camera can bring out the detail in one single image, in one single moment in time and just allow the human eye and mind to look at the photograph and see what eyes could have missed. It freezes that moment and in that we can appreciate the nuances that photographers try to expose, and bring into the spotlight.
The pair of boots being hung by the barbed wire “Hung Boot” looks different at different moments in time. At dusk, there is only light from the sun that is shown by the reflection of the moon, and in the morning, when the sun is just rising and the boots have slight frosting on the sides. The specific moment in time when I took this photo shows the absolute beauty of why the boots were hung in the first place, to be displayed and to be seen.
BY GABRIEL CARDILE
The Student Spotlight is sponsored by White River Electric Association, celebrating 80 years of service to Meeker and the surrounding area.