the contiguous moment

2009-02-22

2009-02-11

2009-02-01

I made this portrait of my friend years ago on his 69th birthday. A handsome man who, when I showed him the Polaroid (yeah, that long ago) he said "Oh Tom, guess what?" (What... Gene?). "I am an old man". I told him that everyone knew that, except (apparently) him.

I see, on a pretty regular basis, older guys making idiots of themselves around younger women and I think some of that is an inner vision of themselves that stopped aging somewhere around college. They deny what is revealed in the mirror every day, by engrossing themselves in detail; the beard, the hair, the clothes. And they continue to hit on girls that are grossed out by their incredible lack of self awareness.

I decided that day with my friend Gene, that I didn't want to wake up one day with the startling realization that I was old. I'd rather keep track of what I look like and not be shocked like Dave in 2001 A Space Odessy, suddenly seeing myself sinking into my death bed, and wondering, "when did I get old?"... t