I'm very happy with my latest release, but it almost never came to be. A misstep during the shoot in Philadelphia resulted in my having to go to the emergency room.
It was almost pitch black in this very out-of-the-way location. I had done the 35 minute test polaroid and was now shooting the film. On the 2nd 35 minute exposure, while walking backwards and lighting the wall on the right, my left leg got tangled in a coil of razor wire. I didn't know what was happening and so I shook my leg to release myself because this pause was messing up my shot. Then I felt a sting followed by a rush of warm liquid streaming down my leg. I finished lighting the wall and went to the camera to close the shutter. Then I looked at my leg and was horrified by the big gash and the amount of blood - my leg was drenched. Luckily two of the guys with me, Andrew and Dorian, volunteered to find a pharmacy and bring back supplies. I knew I didn't have the shot and I wanted to do one more exposure.
I've never done a shot while being so injured and it was not pleasant. I felt myself getting weaker but the adrenaline kept the pain at bay. The guys got back 30 minutes later, just as I was finishing the exposure. Being photographers, Andrew and Dorian couldn't resist taking photos of my wound. I'll spare you the photos...
I cleaned up as well as I could, wrapped it in a bandage, then headed, at midnight, to try and find an emergency room.
The raw location was already beautiful (which is rare) because of all the great graffiti.
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