yyt

in chattanooga foodless. the time zone change at the city limits meant that most restaurants had closed. would even have settled for a subway, instead i had a stale egg salad triangle wedged sandwich and salt and vinegar crisps washed down with a poweraid at a gas bar after giving buddy waiting outside my change so he could feed his dog.

-looks like he’s dead doesn’t it?

in the motel room i pull out what pradip gave me in exchange - the third heaven - and was glad that i didn’t dally. in comparison to what he gave me, my drop off looked like something i would have brought home from kindergarden to be pasted on the refrigerator. while his was in a portfolio box, mine was wrapped in black photographic paper bags - two though mind you. while his used archival book tape to make a pristine accordion book complete with mickey mouse gloves, mine was book cloth binding four pieces of definitely non archival raw book board - it was meant to mimic the feeling of the snaps now i feel it looks pathetic. something one would make just before they were allowed to use sharp objects again.

while mine was as straight forward as us road 24 between el paso and chatsworth illinois. his ebbed and flowed circled back on itself. his was paul graham like mine weekly reader. while mine was the page version of genuflecting in front of the image his pages, spreads and images at time were so interwoven that i had to slow down and actually look.

as soon as i was marvelling at the dance between image page and spread. the premise would change. black and white, images not crowding the page, space to breathe, people.

when i thought that i had sussed this out another change. i had to stop i wanted to expand the book like i would a yamamoto but there was no place in the room to do so. the book was a shock from his website, pradip seems so calm, there is a quietness to his work that i thought mimicked his life. now i am looking at a work that vacillates between over caffeinated manic-ness that would put me to shame to the pradip that i had come to (think that i ) know.

am thinking that if he put the book in his studio i can sneak back and retrieve it before he has a chance to see it.