All of these images come from the same cell-phone photograph, to be revealed at the end of the post.

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Yesterday was an absolutely perfect day for photography in Boston. I don't usually work Saturdays, but I headed in to help out with an event in the afternoon. On the walk to and from the train I took over 100 pictures with my cell phone and DSLR, and a few of them are pretty good!

^{Something tells me this woman could power through anything.}

Today I set to work selecting and editing a few to work into a post. I always feel like it's cheating to share one photo, write ten words, say "done!" and expect upvotes - although heaven knows lots of people do just that. But I quickly realized that these photos had enough going on in them that just one photo might be enough.

^{(High resolution images can be seen by right clicking and selecting "open image in new tab...")}

In fact, I've spent hours making ten compositions out of the same image.

^{Do not? Dare me!}

This was taken on a road near the edge of Chinatown, where a construction project has recently started up. It's across the street from the strip club I mentioned last week. As with all construction projects, it's begun with a great deal of de-struction.

We're left with a visual field of textures upon textures.

^{Double do not? Shit just got real.}

Close to the ground, things are quite muddled and chaotic. But higher up, the sun strikes the bricks at the far end of the lot and brightens things considerably.

^{Building being invaded by some sort of giant worm.}

Having walked past this site on a regular basis, I can confirm that all this work was done in just two days. A whole 2 1/2 story building has been reduced to rubble in this corner in 48 hours. It's amazing what you can do when you have the right tools handy.

The street smells of gypsum and concrete dust. I'm hoping there was no old asbestos in there.

^{Kaboom! One of these would come in handy on the homestead.}

Just a few feet away is another yellow machine. It's much lighter, quieter, and I would suspect, more fuel efficient.

^{This looks like it's more fun than should be legal.}

There's a fire hydrant handy too, of course. Just in case all that garbage catches on fire.

Fire hydrants always make me think of little power-hungry gnomes, there to remind you of where thou shalt not park. This one seems to have had a little tinkle sometime in the last few hours.

^{O Hai there. Do you like my yellow hat?}

Even the play of light on the pavement here tells a story of its own. Can you see why it's taken me so long to finish fussing about with this one photograph?

^{C'mon, feet...}

Of course, every scene needs a witness. I'm so grateful that this jogger happened to pass by at just the right moment, and I feel she deserves a portrait shot of her own, beneath a machine that symbolizes her strength and determination. But is she a source of creation or destruction? I didn't stick around to find out.

^{Much better weather for running than marathon day.}

Presiding over it all, in a spirit of calm, well-balanced justice, is a lamp-post supporting a couple hanging baskets of flowers. It really feels like we're in a different universe here. And who hangs these plants?

If I hadn't taken this photo, I'd never have even noticed these were here.

^{Something nice for the strippers to look at when they come out for cigarette breaks.}

Lots of very different pictures, right? But yes, they all came from the same photo.

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Here it is. Compositionally, I'm not sure it's as strong altogether as the sum of its parts. But the more I look at it, the more I notice, and the more I want to zoom in, crop, and adjust.

^{10 pictures in one. Could have been more but I got tired.}

If we can measure the success of an image by how long we want to look at it, then I have to say I'm pretty damn proud of this one. But it's tacky if I spend too much time validating myself.

What do you all think of it?

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