The Particular, 1999-2003

One summer afternoon I decided to walk across Central Park from the East to the West Side.  The path that I knew soon gave way to an overgrown web of barely familiar trails.  I kept my shoulder to the South and eventually emerged from the shrubby forest into a clearing.  Ahead lay the solid architecture of the West.

 Two German tourists detained me as I strode across the open grass:

 “Excuse me,” one asked, “how do we get to the West Side?”

 I smiled indulgently.  “It’s right there,” I said, pointing to the skyline ahead of me.

 “No,” the speaking German insisted, gently, “That is the East Side.  We just came from there.”

 He was right.  I was back where I had started.

 “Well, then,” I suggested, indicating the woods behind me, “you want to go in the other direction.”

 The Germans seemed pleased with this bit of sound local advice.  They thanked me and walked towards the forest.  I lingered briefly in the sun, giving them a head-start before continuing westward.

Chromogenic color prints, 27.5″ x 40″.