The other night I went on an errand for my wife, and I decided to bring a camera with me. Not really sure why, other than I enjoyed shooting photos at the laundromat and Waffle House on the Instax Wide camera the other day.
And I’m camera poor now, meaning I have to shoot with an expensive digital camera because this year’s daily Polaroid project has bankrupted me from buying more film anytime in the near future (don’t worry I have enough Polaroid film to finish the Polaroid 365).
I live in a very small city in South Carolina. And for years I spent my time photographing the pretty parts of it, trying to help idealize it for an uplifting photo series called The Small Town Photo Project.
But…a lot of my town is sketchy. I don’t go out on the town at night very often, (because I’m in bed around 9PM) so I’m normally able to live separately from the nightly parking lot shenanigans. (that is until the shenanigans come to my house, which is always fun)
In these photos, I was out around 7:30 to 8pm, and I was shocked by how creepy everything was. Which freed me to wander around and be creepy myself, slowly driving around in my black pickup truck with tinted windows.
For this photo, I was alone in a very visibly empty parking lot. I had good visibility so I had a chance of escape if someone rolled up on me, at least I thought. I turned around and a couple was physically fighting each other next to my truck. No idea where they came from, they just appeared and then suddenly disappeared when I walked back to my truck.
I’d be unsettled if I saw a guy outside taking pictures of me while I was eating.
I pulled up to take photos at this gas station, but stayed in my car because this guy on a motorcycle kept circling me and staring me down.
There he is, watching me.
But I’m always watching right back.
And finally, the Taj Mahal of all creepiness in town: The local dead mall. Can’t imagine the stuff that goes on here in the wee hours. Horrors beyond comprehension.
Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving! No video this week, but I’ll be back the grind next week. It’s been nice to do my version of “nothing” this week, which isn’t real nothing, but hey, it’s close.
Photography never sleeps.
Love that last one. They're all great but that one looks wonderfully terrifying. Our town has a very similar vibe at night—especially by the fishing pier. Still active, very much not a safe place to be.