max s. gerber(the latest shot)

so i was in san diego today taking pictures of a couple who lost their house in the recent california wildfires (more on them later). once that shoot was all done, my shoes ruined beyond repair by wading through the mud of flame retardant foam and ash on the ground, i started seeing lots of random burned pages of books lying around. i took a couple pictures of some of them, and then walked down the street to a couple other houses. it was kind of interesting to see what was left – what kind of books people had (medical textbooks, pet training books, children’s books, novels, schoolbooks, etc) and kind of strange to see what survived. if i was even a little bit superstitious (which i’m not) or even a little bit religious (even less so) i might be looking for meaning in them. as it is, i find many of them to be kind of poignant and beautiful, which is good enough for me.

[wordpress does this strangely - i had to make them big so they're readable, but it only wanted to accept thumbnails. so please click on the thumbnails to see the larger pictures. thanks.]

[ed. note: i have now been asked many times if i set these up. the answer is no. i found these pages in the ruins of burned houses in san diego. i didn't move them, or place them, or bring any of them with me. they were shot where i found them. it has also been suggested that i should've brought a pre-burned copy of dante's inferno with me. that, i have to say, would've been a good idea.]