"Thirsty" by Wes Aldridge
This photograph tells a sad tale of human nature. I walked by a planter in downtown Nashville late tonight, very upset that I couldn't find a reasonable photo to post on the bloc, and I saw this. A cheap, generic bottle of mouthwash from Dollar General Store. It was empty, as you can see, turned upside down with the lid beside it. Not a drop remained in the bottle.
I assumed (and we all know what happens when one assumes) that a transient had made this a part of his nurturing for the night. I had heard stories about alcoholics sometimes drinking Listerine to get their fix when no other drink was available, but I had never seen anything quite like this. It was rather haunting. All the things inferred and implied from it.
Maybe I am totally off the mark here, but I don't think so. I mean, why would a bottle of highly alcoholic mouthwash be lying empty in a planter in a tougher part of downtown? I don't have the answer. I just hope that whomever used it had a better night because of it.
The shot itself was more based on opportunity than technique. I had no way of getting around the fact... I lit it with a punch flash from the camera, straight on. You surely can tell. It just lied in near total darkness. I thought there was some merit of recording the image and sharing it though. It really made me stop and think. I was shocked by it.
