At first glance, one may look at my series, "Life Stop 217," and think these are pictures of everyday occurrences, but after further consideration one should see stories with underlying messages about being human.

I chose this same setting, for it offers a stage-like quality. It's architectural black slate-like starkness and reflective windows allow for a more isolated world, much like a play. Window reflections become backdrops and create visual collages depicting memories, passage or chaos. Moments in time are more isolated. Inanimate objects can seem animated. People become characters and I can create narrative by capturing their body language from a moment in time.

Sometime or another, we will each come up against such on-going deeply felt subjects of humanity as; transitions, escape from this world to an alternate universe, current world topics, racism, sadness, anger, personal space, aging, death, religion, burdens, crime, sex, love, humor, and morality. It is amazing, while we wait and make choices to simply move forward, we can say a lot about our comfort and thoughts from our actions.

Since waiting is the basis to all of these concepts, a bus stop setting is an ideal place to express these themes throughout my photography. What better place to bring together people from all walks of life for a moment in time. While at the same time, some of my images will show people racing by in cars, who perhaps have never used the bus, to remind us of the oblivion going on, for some in this sometimes fast passed instant world.

My images show something besides the conflicting media's visual bombardment of the "happy go lucky" facade we are supposed to be living daily. However, I do sometimes use existing advertising as a tool mixed within a scene. It can show the juxtaposition between real life and how it coexists with advertising, creating new messages. Ultimately, my images should connect us.

This website is dedicated to the memory of my father, and photographer, Elmer Friman. I miss him greatly.
This website is also dedicated to my inspirational mother, and poet, Alice Friman.