Goodbye, Arizona. Goodbye, saguaros—you are beautiful, and with those arms it feels like you’re all waving at us as we leave, heading back toward Los Angeles on an eight-hour drive.
Goodbye, Tucson—which I learned is pronounced Too-son, not Tuck-son, as Queen Elizabeth would say.
Tucson, I leave without even a crystal pendant as a souvenir. Honestly, stones, gems—whatever—I could take them or leave them. I’d much rather have ceramics, or anything else.
As a souvenir, I have eight rolls of Kodak Portra 400 in my pocket, ready to be developed.
Let’s hope these photos turn out better than Dale’s friend’s night lightning.
Goodbye, Tucson—which I learned is pronounced Too-son, not Tuck-son, as Queen Elizabeth would say.
Tucson, I leave without even a crystal pendant as a souvenir. Honestly, stones, gems—whatever—I could take them or leave them. I’d much rather have ceramics, or anything else.
As a souvenir, I have eight rolls of Kodak Portra 400 in my pocket, ready to be developed.
Let’s hope these photos turn out better than Dale’s friend’s night lightning.
Author’s Note
This series was shot on film at the Tucson Gem Show in 2022, using a Mamiya camera I had never used before. Moving slowly through a fast, crowded temporary city of hangars and motel rooms, I followed encounters rather than outcomes. These photographs are less about gems than about the people orbiting around them—and about trusting uncertainty as part of the process.