A Slow Start (a.k.a. Monday)

Monday, January 4, 2021

Okay, so today it seems like my entire family moved at the speed of wounded snails. In our defense, this new year kinda just got started and we’re still in the midst of a pandemic and such. So we get a pass, I think. And easing into the work/school is a wise tactic, if only as a means of self-preservation.

I only managed to read a couple of pages from Chapter 1 before realizing it would be best to wait until the school day had ended and I had some quiet. In the mid-afternoon, as I carefully turned the pages, I noticed a jump from p.14 to p.16 and then another skipped page; I started to get nervous. But those “missing” pages had been placed in the photos section, because they contained notes on additional images that Lenny had intended to put in and additional writing to be produced (like stories about the folks depicted working on the tugs). So all the writing that had been produced at that time was in there. I want to honor Lenny’s intention to tell the stories of those men whose pictures he had taken. Sadly, I fear that most of them probably have passed away. Jan Stacy did write down a few names on labels next to some of the portraits, but not all of them. I need to make an effort to try to locate those men who are identified.

I quickly grew tired and had to close the binder. Had me a mindfulness moment (“breathe in the flowers…blow out the candles”). Eventually, I went upstairs to scan images to the sounds of Barry White, who somehow always manages to make me feel better. I also decided to create those separate folders on my laptop, one for each chapter so that when I start curating, I can place them where Lenny had wanted them to be.

Although all nine chapters were written, Lenny didn’t quite make it there in terms of his photographs, at least I don’t think he did. There are only a couple of prints in the binder for Chapter 9 and the notes mention that the focus was to be on how tugboats are being redesigned and re-engineered and that a generation of them are being relegated to junk yards per se. He was going to depict these “tugboat graveyards” but I have yet to see any images that match such a description. I may have to re-imagine the end of the book…but I don’t want to. There is time to figure that out and maybe I’ll find some surprises as I continue to work through the remaining slides.

I ended the evening by admiring some amazing portraits that Lenny took. He could have easily been a very successful fashion photographer. I wonder to what extent that interested him…