Moment: Ricardo García Mainou

© Ricardo García Mainou

By Ricardo García Mainou

During the pandemic lockdown, I'd go out some afternoons, to walk around the neighborhood. Seizing the necessary exercise time, to do a bit of street photography: documenting my surroundings with my camera. My favorite time to walk was the late afternoon, when the sun draws playful shadow lines from buildings, posts, street signs, and utility cables. 

I used to pay attention to this house because it seemed abandoned. The cars parked next to the entrance were incrusted in rusty dust; and the front lawn looked wild and derelict. 

Someone had taped a "Vigilant Neighbor" sign on the dusty glass. I was first attracted to the sign, which did nothing to project security. But then, this annoyed cute dog jumped between the curtains and started barking at me. His ire muted by the thick glass. 

The diagonal shadow over the window reinforced, in a sense, his isolation.  I quickly decided to frame the dog, leaving out the sign, the cars, and most of the lawn. Instead of a cliché photo of an abandoned house; the picture became a kind of a theatrical farse: Its tinny stage, curtain and all, to showcase the dog. It was also, even if I realized this later; a fitting metaphor for the lockdown we were still living. 

You can view more of Ricardo García Mainou on his website and Instagram.