Back Stairs, 2005

I like form in my photographs. I also very much like what others do with color and atmosphere, but my photos most often respond to shape--like the contrasting zig zag pattern on this stairway. I've shot the stairs before and something or other kept me from liking it. On this particular day I was shooting with a Holga camera and with that you're never sure what'll show up on the film. When it works you feel lucky--even when nothing moved and I had time to consider it. These stairs are behind a building on California Avenue in Palo Alto.