I remember the first time (Flat)

ceramic (cone 10 reduction)
8.25 ” x 10” x 0.25”
The text and image in this piece are applied as oxide contact prints and are fired into the glaze.

I remember the first time

I remember the first time I was given a camera
In Idaho
On a family reunion
In the middle of no where
In Idaho
Free reign with a camera
With my mother and sister trailing me
Waiting for her turn
Afraid of what I might choose to shoot
Wasting film

I was little and low down
Fit under horses bellies
Couldn’t reach counter tops
I arranged a composition of
Sticks and rocks and dirt
In the middle of no where
Middle of family
In Idaho
And I shot the ground
Low down and careful
Arranged and
I fought for it
Determined to use my
Privilege with the camera
My one promised anything
I shot down
And it was allowed
Rationalized because it wasn’t a huge waste
Just one frame of the ground

It might happen anyway
As an accident
The shutter open and
Unintentional click
And advance
While hanging against a limb
Or haphazard at the sky