It's official - Brad will be 'doing' the patio again this summer. Eh? Last summer, my neighbor in our 95-home vertical community, Brad, devoted a good chunk of his free time to creating an oasis of plants and flowers on the patio.
We crossed paths once in a while as I photographed his flowery handiwork. Fall came, the growing season ended, and so did my patio photography. I ran into Brad by the mailboxes, and he asked me if I saved any of the pictures I took. Yes, of course. Could I make a few prints for him? Yep.
It took me several days to find the images - I had yet to learn the value of keywording my images last year. I had 25,000 exposures from March through October, and they were poorly organized in haphazard folders and sub-folders. Eventually I gathered a couple hundred shots from the patio.
Around the same time, I had heard of a website called Blurb, through which anyone could self-publish a book. Why not take some of these patio images and make them into a little book as a surprise for Brad? So I did and presented it to Brad in December. The expression on his face made the whole thing worthwhile.
In doing the book, I developed a sense of regret over not having done a better job of shooting the flowers and plants on the patio. I really wanted another chance to photograph an entire season of Brad's green thumb in action. It was Christmas. Spring in Minnesota is reluctant to arrive, so I had a long wait ahead.
April arrived. I began to discreetly ask other residents if they had heard anything about Brad's plan for this summer. I asked in the office. I left Brad a note, expressing my interest in documenting his work again should he decide to 'do' the patio again. Most responses to my inquiries of other residenets were not encouraging - "I don't think Brad has the time this year" was a common one.
So, when the May "Rose Review" (a monthly newsletter for our building) arrived at my door, it was a most pleasant surprise to read on the front page that Brad would be planting on the patio this year.
I wanted to get some shots of the empty flower pots and naked flower beds before Brad got busy, so I went out today to make some exposures. Who was there but Brad himself, with bags of potting soil and very dirty hands. The sun was shining, the temp was in the 60's and several residents lounged in the springtime sun or waved hello as they entered and exited our building.
This blog is going to be a photo journal of Brad's work on the patio. At least, that is my hope. Any number of things could prevent the completion of this project, including me going off on a tangent and neglecting this work. Nonetheless, hope springs eternal for now. There, I've started.
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