wingyounghuie:

This is the beginning of what I’m calling a serialized photographic novel, where every Sunday (round midnight) there will be a new installment that often will be connected—directly or tangentially—to the previous one. I will allow serendipity to somewhat guide me as I spiral outward from the first photographic stone cast, following thematic, conceptual, and character-driven threads.

At times I will compel narratives by asking the various characters, major and minor, to interact with those they would normally not—their “Others” if you will. There will be eventual multiple story lines in different locations that may or may not coalesce. Also anticipate abrupt and disjointed asides, interludes & meanderings as I make my way throughout the Twin Cities, and beyond, capturing in content and form the epic ordinariness of who and what we are.

—

The View from the Window at Le Gras was the first successful permanent photograph, created by Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 at Sain-Loup-de-Varennes, according to Wikipedia. The view from my storefront gallery window on 38^th Street and Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis is Tip Top Haircut, where every business morning without fail, an elderly Asian man sweeps (or shovels) the sidewalk debris from this busy urban corner, his front door just steps from a bus stop.

In the nine months since I moved in I have managed to wave at him only sporadically and exchange a few brief pleasantries on the street. Sitting behind my desk I can spy him moving about his tiny tidy shop. Often, though, he’s sitting in his usual spot under the hair dryer, waiting in anticipation.

The sandwich board in front reads: ALL HAIRCUTS $9. He told me that he’d like to get 10 - 15 customers a day. But some days no one comes in. I took this photograph a couple of weeks ago. It was the first time I had been inside. If not for my camera I might have never crossed the threshold.

Wing Young Huie has a Tumblr!