Off Duty by DPinDC

If I were to win a warehouse full of money and suddenly lose the pressure of planning for retirement, there are some peculiar jobs in this world that I would love to try my hand at. How about a toll booth operator on the Dulles Toll Road, a gas station attendant, or a high school janitor?  Or maybe one of those guys who rides on the back of a trash truck, listens to his headphones and jumps from curb to curb at five in the morning?  A movie projectionist has always been a dream job of mine, especially at a theater like E Street where I could watch amazing flicks all day long.  Or how about a crane operator, swinging tons of steel around in my own little game of SimCity?

If you look carefully at the jobs that I mentioned, you’ll notice a common theme: to be by myself with just a small dash of human interaction.  There are those who thrive on being around others and shrivel when they are alone, and those who are built for a life of solitude.  While you’re enjoying your power lunches and chattering nonstop into your bluetooth earpiece, I’ll be eating at my desk and making sure your corporate machine keeps humming like a German car.  We can chalk our differences up to genetic evolution, or perhaps correlate them directly to how many hours we spent playing video games as kids.  Regardless, it’s no wonder that I love photography, another lonely profession.

It took me a while to realize what I love about today’s photo.  While I was first drawn to its cinematic quality and the capture of an every day city scene, it soon dawned on me that this is the work of a lonely photographer, shooting a lonely cab driver who is reading a newspaper full of photographs taken by other lonely photographers.  I see that I’m not alone in this world of loneliness.

Max Cook

Hailing from the Mile High City, Max has also lived in Tinsel Town, the Emerald City, as well as the City of Brotherly Love. Now a District resident, he likes to write about cool photos by local photographers, the DC restaurant and bar scene, or anything else that pops into his mind.