Triggered!: Shawn Records
The truth is, the first time I saw this scene, I didn’t bother stopping. I just slowed down and stared, like every other driver on the highway. But to get out and make the picture just didn’t feel quite right. It almost seemed like it was too much- like low-hanging over-ripe fruit at someone else’s expense. I had the camera with me, but I mean, what the hell had happened? Did anyone get hurt? I just kept on driving, debating whether I should turn around and try to make something out of it or if that was just exploitative ambulance-chasing.
But I kept seeing it in my head. The next day I looked up the local news and got the story- the driver of the RV had a “medical event” that led him off the road and straight into the house. He was going to be okay. The family was home, but safely ran out the back door. In a sense, this unexpected tragedy was incredibly lucky for everyone involved. Is there any greater affirmation of life than escaping death? So, I don’t know… that cleared it up for me. Sure, none of any of that is visible in the picture itself, and I wouldn’t really fault another photographer for stopping immediately to photograph it, but in this case, I just needed that info in order to go back and make the picture.
At the time, I had a nebulous group of pictures coming together around the idea of trying to get away from it all (only to find that you can’t). This photograph became a guide. Within the series, Now is the Time, this picture’s an anchor of sorts, giving the series structure and drawing out the dark humor in some of the more subtle photos. Like life, the pictures are sequenced in a way where intrusions come in and rupture the everyday. No matter where you are, in the quietest of quiet places, there are unexpected interruptions that are sometimes glorious and sometimes tragic. But you just never know when they’re coming. They’re always a surprise.
