Laundry
Durham, North Carolina
29x36 inch C-print
2008

I had been struck by this scene in the dark bedroom but was having a difficult time adding light in just the right way such that a piece of film would have the same experience I was having. Turning on the actual lights in the bedroom was out of the question. They would destroy any sense of mystery. I tried turning on just the hallway light. It was still far too strong and directional for the scene. On a hunch I turned off the hallway light, turned on the nearby bathroom light, and then closed the bathroom door most of the way. Bingo! The light peeking through the crack in the bathroom door and bouncing off the hallway walls and from there emanating into the bedroom produced exactly the faint glow the film needed to see the scene without changing the nature of the scene. An hour or so later, and the film was fully exposed. I took the first picture without the white wreath but was then, as happened with many compositions during this period, unaccountably inspired to add it.