A blue-black shadow of a woman standing with her walker is cast on gray pavement. The shadow is long in the evening light, extending at a slight angle from the bottom of the frame to the top. Although the woman is stationary, the long diagonal lines evoke a feeling of movement.
Someone abandoned a single black hiking boot. It sits on the left side of a low, gray concrete curb that bisects the photo from left to right. Above the curb is asphalt pavement. Below it is sparse bark dust with a few isolated plants. The background’s lack of affect, the boot’s position that leaves the curb bare to the right of it, and the darkness of the image highlight the loneliness of the boot.
A Dumpster painted bright blue sits next to a yellow concrete pillar. Both show signs of corrosion, red rust on the Dumpster and peeling paint on the pillar. The Dumpster’s lid is held open by a cardboard box. The yellow trim on the box, which is at the upper left, echoes the yellow pillar in the lower right of the frame. The effect is balanced and restful.
A single blackberry vine grows down a gray concrete retaining wall that is scuffed with age. The vine has a few sparse leaves and clearly delineated thorns. It is both lonely and valiant, growing out on its own. It reaches down from a meadow that is unseen at the top of the wall.
Bright afternoon sun from the right casts vivid shadows of people walking by, two adults holding the hands of a little girl. The retreating feet of one of the adults can be seen at right. The photographer, who is in a wheelchair, has a bag on her lap that is part of the photo. It has a reproduction of a vintage sewing pattern. The feet of the models in the illustration on the bag echo the walking shadows on the sidewalk.
Fran Gardner, 73, is a retired journalist. She resides in assisted living. Fran was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the mid-1990s. She has graduated from one cane, to two canes, to a walker, to a scooter, and now to a power wheelchair. Fran writes weekly for Substack at frangardner.substack.com. Some of these photos have appeared there.
