"Main Street Auction" by Wes Aldridge
I shot a freelance assignment of a marching band competition today in Milan, Tennessee. It was really fun, suprisingly. But after the assignment is when I really started having a good time. I felt it today, in that small town, I felt it.
I decided to go and find my shot for the day while I was still down there. It was time for a little exploration. There must be a downtown area with a traditional old courthouse or something of that nature that would make for a good shot. I followed Main Street and there it was.
The street was filled with boxes overflowing with trinkets, junk and just all-around yardsale items strewn about. People sat in lawnchairs on the street with iced tea in hand. A man was running an auction over a loudspeaker in front of the massive crowd of hundreds. The site was incredible. For a minute I felt like I had wondered into a different kind of place, something tucked away and hidden from societal norms. I felt like it was a National Geographic kind of moment. I can't explain it very well, I just know the feelings that I had.
And there they were, sitting proudly in their chairs. These two little ladies had just bid on an auction for a tea kettle... and won. The lady on the left had done the bidding and the one on the right had to pitch in her five dollars to help in the buy. It was just a perfect moment out of an old American novel to me. I felt it, and I caught it.
