my glass i sat: On a Bus

[Brian Moore]

I did not like how this fellow was gazing at me.

So at the first opportunity I moved to the back of the bus, and I shot him again!

Olympus XA with Fuji Neopan 400 that I shot at 800 ASA and "pushed" in development. I developed the film in Rodinal diluted at 1:25.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Ha ha - that showed him! LOL

I like the perspective in #2

 

[Hamish Gill]

these are wonderful mate!
you really pull it out of the bag sometimes!
the lighting in these is absolutely spot on for me, they have a really nice vintage feel to them!!

 

[Pete Askew]

Excellent again Brain especially the second shot. I really like the reflections on the ceiling.

 

[Brian Moore]

Thank you Chris, Hamish and Pete.

(I need to tell the true circumstances of these shots. If someone can tell me what's missing from the 2nd one I'll reveal.)

 

[Pete Askew]

Apart from the driver you mean!

I'd guess a transport museum or similar!!

 

[Brian Moore]

Pete,...you win the coconut!

Yes,...no driver. And it IS in a transport museum. I took these shots at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan last week. (Which, to be fair, is a transport museum and much much more.)

It's a famous bus. It's the bus that a middle-aged African American woman named Rosa Parks boarded in Montgomery Alabama one day in December of 1955 and, when ordered to give up her seat to a white passenger, refused. It was a courageous act and is one of the seminal moments in the American Civil Rights Movement.

The gentleman in the pictures is my co-worker and friend Rodney. He is seated in the very seat that Rosa Parks refused to be budged from. Rodney is African American and a Southerner. He spent a few minutes in reflection seated in Rosa Parks' seat. In the second photo you can see the single illuminated lamp that signifies the location of the famous seat.

Here's the bus from the outside. The bus is located in an enclosed display so my XA could only fit this much in given the room I had to work with.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Ha! I thought it was just top deck of a double decker...
That's amazing though!

 

[Brian Moore]

I never thought about the top of a double-decker, Hamish. It could certainly pass for that. (But what a long steering column it would need to connect that upstairs steering wheel to the axles down below!

Thank Hamish!

 

[Pete Askew]

I'd wondered why that light was on. What a super back-story and wonderful that they kept the bus. I can imagine that this must be a poignant object for many people.

 

[Brian Moore]

Poignant indeed, Pete! The Ford Museum has an entire display dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement and the bus is the centerpiece. My friend Rodney was certainly moved and me, too. Coincidentally, over dinner a couple of nights before Rodney had opened up a little to me about racial incidents he'd experienced as a young man (I consider this an honour and a compliment). So when we sat on Rosa Parks bus I felt I had an idea what was going through his mind and I gave him plenty of space, as you can see in the photos. He took his time in reflection, and we've spoken no more about it.

Thanks Pete.

 

[Paul Lange]

Fantastic shots Brian and a great story behind them. What I also like is the way the XA doesn't produce images that has a compact feel to them. If I was pushed to guess I would have thought they were taken on an SLR.

 

[Brian Moore]

Thanks very much Paul. It's a great wee camera. It has it's quirks for sure, but if you want to carry something discreet that gives decent images on film the XA is hard to beat for the money.

Thanks again.