Hometown: May 2010

An Afternoon (Roll 2): May 2010
Resettled: Summer 2010

Taking my $10 Walgreens digital camera (Vivitar) out to play in Spring Valley. Wasn’t too enthused about the place after moving away from Chicago. 5/30/2010.

Looking up at the light blue sky, with fishbowl lens warped green leaves and tree branches above me. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. Image of a distant treeline, with three medium sized pine trees in the mid ground and one towering dark green pine tree in the foreground, against a blue and white sky, with a couple phone lines running diagonally through. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. Blurry image down a hill looking at the valley and homes and hills in the distance. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. A large white building with a slightly shorter wing that has a bright red roof. Trees and sky in background, asphalt road in foreground with dark car driving by. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. Plain light blue sky, textured by grainy analog-like digital artifacts from camera. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. Slanted, Dutch angle image of a sidewalk with trees and grass on the left side and a road on the right, with more trees on the other side of the road. A mailbox and a motorcycle are in the distance. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. A brown shed or barn with white trim, a white door, two windows, a white fixture at the top, and a larger black garage door entryway, with a gravel road leading to it, against a hillside of trees and on green mowed grass. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010.

A hillside of trees with a touch of blue sky above, behind a small field of mowed grass. In the field sits a statue of Jesus, glowing white, ridiculously situated between two small bushes. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010.

jesus

A blurry image of grey pavement with some indeterminate chalk lines drawn on it. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. The grey pavement of the sidewalk, with a bright yellow line running down parallel to the sidewalk, and a couple white crosswalk lines running perpendicular next to it. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. Green grass, partially in shadow, partially in bright sun, with the brick elementary school building behind it, with white trimmed windows. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. Blue sky and green forested hillside in the distance, with parts of the orange brick elementary school buildings on the side. The buildings seem warped by the fisheye lens. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. A skewed image of a road with cars on it, trees, buildings, telephone lines, and a building with a peach color and white trim in the immediate foreground. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. The old Congregational Church building (I think?) silhouetted with trees against a bright blue sky and harsh sunlight. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. A house, trees, a telephone line, and a road. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. A home on County Road B exiting town, with a mailbox, an open garage door, and long sloping roof angles. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. Gravel roads intersecting and heading out of town, surrounded by green grass and trees and hills under a clear blue sky. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. The base of the Glade Avenue hill as it comes out to County Road B, near an old church and hills, with grass, trees, and gravel. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. Dark green trees and a hint of blue sky, with a ring of light caused by the glare of the sun overlaid into the image. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. A thick forest of tall green and brown trees with sunlight streaming in, blurred and warped by the poor camera lens quality. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. A tree lined road, Glade Avenue, up a hill, mostly shaded. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. Beautiful trees, canopies and bright yellow-green leaves in the blue sky. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. More trees, though this one is so blurry and abstract it more resembles Impressionist paint dab style, with a slight rotational blur caused by the camera itself. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. A fork in the road, going out two ways in front of you, both with sky in the distance, but separated by tall trees, with tall trees on each side as well. The left road stays level while the right road goes up a hill. The split between Glade Ave and Upper Glade Avenue. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. A stone stairway up through lush green bushes, with a tall lamp at the top. More dark trees and hills are behind and above this hilltop. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010.

Green and blue grass and brush, with a dark shadow of a person's upper body and head, an arm raised holding a tiny rectangular camera. It's my shadow! Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010.

myself

Cement blocks and concrete with carved letters too blurred to make out, a sidewalk with dark shadows from a pergola being cast at an angle. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010. A large white house with green trim and paint, two large windows on the first floor and some smaller windows on the second and attic floors, a balcony off to the side, with trees and blue sky around. Lo-fi pixelated photograph taken on a cheap Walgreens Vivitar MARScam miniature toy digital camera in Spring Valley, WI, on May 30th, 2010.

Coming back here after college felt like being forced awake from a wild but enjoyable dream. It was like hitting the brakes. The town was practically frozen in time, as it still almost seems today. In some ways the Vivitar/Marscam photos seemed to fit Spring Valley, since they’re also so simple and dialed-back.

Lots of trees, lots of blue skies, lots of paved and gravel roads and midwestern houses of one type or another. There’s not a lot else. Even the elementary school is torn down now, and replaced by a blasphemous mockery of culture and architecture. Jesus remains weathered in his little field, leaving no confusion about the stagnation of this town.

An Afternoon (Roll 2): May 2010
Resettled: Summer 2010


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