A mix of old and new shown here in Lucia’s photograph, is always eye catching and provocative.
Susan says, “This is a lovely mashup of a gas station designed in the art deco style, long closed, that now houses a pizza parlor. Portland, Oregon came into being in the mid-1800’s, long before the first pizza parlor opened in NYC, or there was a need for gas pumps and even longer before the founding of the art deco movement. Yet here like the growth rings of a tree, is a short history of art, cuisine and industry. This photo is a lovely prompt for a story about nostalgia or recycling and reusing, or the staying power of great architecture, or the persistence of pizza, or about how everything old will someday be new again. Or maybe it just brings that unintentionally funny old sign to life: ‘Eat Here. Get Gas!’”
Lucia says, “When capturing this scene, I was struck by everything Susan mentioned. My dilemma was how to portray it. A close-up on the gas pump would definitely bring up nostalgia. Zooming in on the ‘Signal’ sign above would display the art deco design of the old gas station. Or capturing the pizza parlor, which not graces the name of the station, would depict the recycling of an old building. Any of these would have made a good starting point to tell a tale. But I wanted a photo that told the whole story about the passage of time and the uniqueness and ‘coolness’ that can be had by keeping the old to house the new. So I went across the street for a wide shot, which also included 21st century cars parked on the side street. This added to the placement of the old station in our time period. Choose your photos carefully for your stories. How much do you want to tell? Do you want to make a specific point or do you want to talk about the big picture?”
