October 4th, 2023
After work, I drove northwest on Old River Road on my way to Woodland for a job interview. As I weaved side by side along the Sacramento River, I was somewhat calmed by the familiarity of the landscape since it looks and feels identical to both the Sacramento Delta (around Freeport, CA) and the backroads of Yuba City, my hometown. Two areas I’ve driven and photographed countless times.
Childhood memories started filling my head and as a result, I was feeling nostalgic and yearning to be a kid again. But adulthood was apparent with the interview nearing and I found myself in a state of contradiction: the past and the present battling for real estate in my brain.
As I pulled into Woodland and found a parking lot located behind the building that I’d be entering, the pre-interview anxiety starting building and my brain might as well have been the equivalent of mush.
—
To be honest, the interview felt pretty good.. and partly natural after the panel and I shared a few laughs. Once I asked the final question and thanked them for their time, I got up to shake each of the interviewers’ hands and walked calmly out the door. I made my way around the building and back to my car and knew I needed to use the bathroom soon as my adrenaline was wearing off and I was returning to a “normal” state of mind. So I grabbed my camera bag and headed a block over to the main historic downtown street, which was aptly named Main Street, in search of any business that had a public bathroom I could use.
I entered a bakery and asked if they had a bathroom. The young cashier told me that if I opened the side door (behind their counter) and walked through the back hallway, there was an available one near the barbershop. After frantically walking back and forth down the dark hallway (that doubled as storage for multiple businesses) in search of a bathroom sign, I finally found it.
After relieving myself, I walked out the back of the building and decided to take a short photo walk in hopes of finding a few scenes to shoot and to ease my mind after a long day of work and the interview.
The town’s alleyways and old architecture made me feel like I was in the 1940s or 1950s. I instantly thought of a few scenes from my favorite movie, Stand By Me.
Besides commuters driving down Main Road and a few teenagers walking on the sidewalks here and there, the town was rather empty for the middle of the week which made this whole area even more reminiscent of my hometown and the Sacramento Delta.
After the 15 minute walk and a few photographs later, I got back in my car and called it a day.
This last photo (inspired by Matthew’s The Divided Heart Doesn’t Know Whether to Break or Mend project and a few photos from Silent Coast by Rob Ball) was made on my way back home on Old River Road. I passed this trash bag-covered sign but had no where to pull over in that initial moment. I made my way about a mile down the road and since I couldn’t shake the urge of photographing it, I decided to turn around and scope out a spot to pull over. I ended up finding a narrow spot at the end of the bridge, near the sign.
Oddly enough, as I was walking back to my car after taking a few shots, someone driving by slowed down and shouted “Phoenix!” I looked over and it was Drew, a childhood friend, whom I hadn’t seen in over 15 years. I recognized him immediately and was once again reminded of my childhood. This particular friend and the house/farm he grew up on with his parents in East Nicolaus had been in and out of my head for the last few weeks.. so of course it was him that just happened to be driving by! I threw up a peace sign and we both smiled as he drove off.
—
Maybe I needed to take this backroad on this particular day to be reminded of where I have come from and where I am going.
Regardless, I was reminded yet again of just how strange life can be..
Ha, Dog Gone is a great name for a street. Great look at this old town center and congrats on the job!
Ahhh Silent Coast is a book I wanted to get, but just never got around to it, but I did look at the pictures from it around the time of shooting my project so I may have been influenced by the image you are referring to as well! I love these photos and though I wouldn't say Stand By Me is a favourite film, it's feel has never left me and that's all I can think off to when I come across places like the one you were in! Those moments are strange and powerful when you feel split between the past and the future by something like a job interview. Again, major congratulations for you on getting the job my dude and if it keeps taking you out this way you may have a few more pictures to make!