"Hey Frederick, where have you been lately?"
That's right, I was on a week-long photo shoot, visiting some of Indiana's gems. First Terre Haute, then Brownsburg, and finally to Lafayette.
Terre Haute: I will say that I had completely forgotten how people act when they are in a boring environment too long. Just being there with professional camera equipment meant that I was more or less Spielberg. Every person that walked or drove by had to either stop to examine what I was doing, or holler something. Seriously. Every person. Is it that boring there? Nothing else going on? At some point, I was waiting for the mayor and chamber of commerce to present us with a key to the city and a complimentary loose meat sandwich. Instead, I got the douchebag brigade, with squadron after squadron of hecklers and car horns, interspersed with the genuinely courteous and curious citizen. I enjoyed the citizens, and ignored the douchebaggery.
The people of Brownsburg pretty much left us alone. I guessed that since they live close to Indy, they probably have seen a photographer before, and thought my presence was commonplace.
The most interesting place was Lafayette, which had more activity than the other two towns, and had one of the great motels in America: the Best Western. It had a conference center, and was constructed in the 70's. Back then the Westerns had themes, and this one was English Manor, mixed with Cannonball Run. They had a Polynesian resort thing going on with the pool, the elevator was straight out of New York 1977, they had actual coffee mugs in the rooms (!), and the toilets were killer. I haven't seen such a fine example of 70's preservation. And I haven't seen a toilet like that since I went on the Kohler tour. Even the lounge was cool, which was appropriately named "The Cock N' Bull."
I was going to post a few examples, but the blogger interface is giving me trouble, so I will post them here on my phpgraphy site.
