Pigs in the Dark

I want so desperately to be profound in describing this photo.

I want to tell you how it was the culmination of a magical journey on the backroads of the Mississippi Delta. I want to connect it to a deeper social event. I want to organize my words in brilliant poetry in a way that opens your mind and your heart. I want this image to matter.

The truth is, however, that I don’t remember much about what was happening when I made this photo. I keep trying to connect it to significant events that were happening at the time, but I can’t even remember exactly when it was made. All I know for sure is I snapped this image sometime before 2016 and somewhere north of Greenville, Mississippi at someplace not far from Highway 1.

Mostly, I just like it.

it speaks to me in a way that I can’t quite articulate. I chuckle at trying to recreate in memory a moment I don’t recall with certainty. Why was I there ? What drew me to those pigs? Were they fenced or wandering freely? Did I trespass ? Was I scared or amused? Did I stay very long in this moment?

I don’t know the answers to any of those questions, and I’m the one that lived this moment. I can either build a story in my head and convince myself of its truth. or I can accept that I just don’t know. Yet, I have this image from which I can glean a few facts.

This image was made at dusk. I can tell by the glow of the sky, the darkness of the background and the way the image is lit. I likely used the headlights of my car. That technique has been a common practice of mine for sometime, and the harsh pool of light on the pigs indicates that style of illumination. The image is grainy and blurred, which tells me I used my iPhone to document the scene. This, too, is something I do often. Just like most of you, my iPhone is my most-used camera. There were at least two pigs present. And me. Something about all this made me want to look, and then it made me want to stop. So I did.

Anything beyond the information I’ve provided above is conjecture. It’s an insertion of perspective, not certainty. Maybe that’s what keeps me coming back to this photo. I’ve thought a lot in the last few years about all of our interactions with photos, and how often conjecture gets confused with certainty.

We’ve all heard the old adage, “An image says a thousand words”. but does it, or does it simply encourage them? Maybe it’s enough to just look and see what’s there, without judgement, and without conjecture. What might happen if we just accepted the information that is offered, and were ok with the information that wasn’t.

And that’s what i think about when I revisit a photo of two pigs and me at dusk somewhere north of Greenville, Mississippi.