John Fraim – Ft. Collins, Colorado – 10/19/26
The Backward Step
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We drove from Columbus, Ohio to Ft. Collins, Colorado in three days. Averaging 450 miles a day on I-70, it was a tough drive. Sections of the interstate merged into just one lane and there was construction for long stretches in various states. The radio helped pass the time but it was full of political attack ads a few weeks before the midterm elections.
The photo was taken from the porch of our home the night of our arrival in Ft. Collins. The stop sign is at the end of our street and under a street light that fills in for a full moon. Behind the scene are fields and above the fields a road. A car moves by on the road forming a horizontal line with the five second exposure.
I was testing out night photography and fooling around with difference exposure times. The above image with the stop sign and street light in front and darkness behind seems a metaphor for the end of the long car trip. But also, a statement to “stop” the growing hate and fighting at this time in history. The chance of this happening is slim yet this never prevents metaphors and signs warning us to stop and reflect before rushing forward into a future darkness beyond the stop sign in the photo.