Tag: waitingfor

12 Chairs

Doctor's Office, Waiting for Jake
Waiting_select_005
UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica. March 2013

Waiting with Jake again. He had been complaining about back pain for some time, and had received a diagnosis of a herniated disc. We were at the UCLA medical office in Santa Monica seeking a second opinion at the suggestion of a dear family friend. The idea was to create an integrated care plan through the UCLA system to address the damage to his spine, create an intelligent pain management program, and help with strengthening his core muscles and overall physical condition. As it turned out, he would seek treatment elsewhere, but we visited this waiting room more than once. There are a few photos of this place, it was at the very beginning of what would become the Waiting Room Project, and had a variety of different looks. On other occasions the room would be filled with people, but today, we were the only ones there for our early appointment.

The First Photograph

Doctor's Office, Waiting for Jake
Waiting_select_002
UCLA Medical Center, Westwood Village. March 2013

This is the very first photo I took for what would develop into a mild obsession and a multi-year endeavor. I was at the UCLA medical center on Thursday, March 28, 2013, waiting for Jake to finish with a doctor’s appointment, when this chair caught my eye. There was something about the symmetry, the late afternoon light streaming in the window, the angle of the magazine on the table that screamed, “Photograph me!” I had my iPhone  and was exploring the Hipstamatic app I had recently installed. This was in native black and white, as would be all of the succeeding photographs. I didn’t think anything of it when I snapped the picture, had no idea of what it would lead to. I just liked the image. It seemed tranquil in an odd way, like a place in which you wouldn’t mind waiting.