Walmart, Jan. 13, 2021
The last light of day can be truly transformative of the most ordinary of photographic subject matter.
By day, the parking structure at Walmart in Truth or Consequences is a busy, noisy, littered space. Illuminated by the setting winter sun, one recent evening it became an object of beauty in the eyes of a photographer who appreciated the march of the angled roof lines, their edges reflecting the pink of the twilight sky, and the dance of the structure’s globular overhead lights, hovering over the parked cars like apparitions.
The strong white and blue of the two most visible parked cars and the bright yellow of the bumper guards add their own beat to the rhythm of the composition, as do the pastel striations of the sky and the saw-toothed silhouette of Mud Mountain in the background.
Rather than being a distraction, the emphatic vertical of the seemly purposeless pole in the left foreground serves to bring the viewer’s attention full circle, back to the glowing parking structure.
This striking but serene photograph immediately reminded me of the luminous color landscapes of the renowned American photographer Joel Meyerowitz. As the curator of photography at the Cleveland Museum of Art, I had the privilege of acquiring for the museum his 1977 image, Dairyland. This Photograph of the Week shares many admirable qualities with that particular work, which you can view here.
—Commentary by Tom Hinson, editor, Photograph of the Week
Editor’s Note: Click on the photograph to view it in a light box for even greater clarity.
Professional, amateur and phone-camera photographers alike are invited to submit images to the Sierra County Sun for possible publication in the Sun’s “Photograph of the Week” feature. The deadline for consideration is every Friday at 5 p.m. For further information, click on the Help Us Report button on our home page and then check the box labeled “I want to submit a photo to Photograph of the Week.”
