The 100 Day Project #54

Fins of Gold and Ringo

Tucson, AZ, 2009

The 100 Day Project, Day 54

Tucson has a way of doing this to you.

You turn a corner and find a 1963 Imperial LeBaron in Mayan Gold — fins, whitewall tires, cream white details — parked in front of a vintage motel, looking like it just rolled off the assembly line and decided to stay. And then you notice the vintage black-and-white television sitting on the hood, showing a young Ringo Starr of the Beatles, and you think — yes. This is exactly right. This makes complete sense.

This photograph was made at one of the many art installation events I attended during my eight years in Tucson. The city has a vibrant, scrappy, deeply committed arts community that consistently surprises you with what it conjures out of the desert. Events like this one were a big part of what kept me there — and what made it the longest I have lived anywhere as an adult.

I have a long love of the mid-century aesthetic. There is something about that era's design philosophy — the optimism of it, the elegance, the willingness to go big with color. Pair it with a vintage motel, a warm Tucson evening, and a Beatle on a television screen, and I am sold.

I took my camera everywhere in those early Tucson years. Photographing a new place is my way of getting to know it — of paying attention in a way that everyday life doesn't always allow. And building an archive of moments I can return to someday when I'm too old to travel. This image is one of my favorites from those years. Funky, elegant, and completely Tucson.

About the 100 Day Project: A global creative challenge where thousands of artists share a piece of their practice every single day for 100 days. I'm joining creatives around the world, and I'm excited to bring you along. Each day I'll be sharing one of my photos — some recent, some old, and some from my current project — along with the story behind it: where I was, who I was with, and why I love it.