Night Water Tower
Knoxville, Tennessee
29x36 inch C-print
2009

This photograph was my idea of a nostalgic Christmas present for my brother and sister. That was my motivation for taking the picture anyway, though I ended up giving them something a little less apocalyptic-looking for the actual holiday. We grew up just a few houses away from this water tower, and I remember the excitement of all the neighborhood kids when it was installed. If memory serves, the installers even let us ride our bikes around in the panels before they assembled it. I would imagine, as was the intent, that the water pressure on our street improved, but I can't say for sure. The water tower's meaning for me was more personal. Roaming our street in the summer pre-dawn hours looking for a good spot from which to watch the sunrise, as was our habit, my best friend and I discovered that we could scramble up the side of the access door of the water tower and sit high atop the lintel. For a couple of conscientious ten-year-olds, this was heady stuff. I couldn't swear to it, but I believe that particular sunrise might have been the best one we ever watched.