A Block Away, Nothing

Downtown Charlotte, Early 1980s

Sundays in downtown Charlotte were an abandoned amusement park, the streets deserted except for the odd bit of trash skipping down the street. Crouching in the middle of the street, I heard a train whistle in the distance. The two main streets, Trade and Tryon, might have a car or two - the primary north-south and east-west crossings. A block away, nothing. Charlotte was a business town. A nine-to-five town, Monday through Friday, except for bank holidays.

Downtown Charlotte North Carolina on a Sunday, early 1980s.

Looking at these photographs now, I see no moving cars. The only sign of life are the mannequins in the storefront window, the late afternoon light illuminating their imagined consciousness. I see both my loneliness and my insatiable need to visually explore and organize the world, assuming I don’t run out of Kodak Tri-X.

Original Mannequin and Display Sales, Inc storefront in Charlotte North Carolina.

Early 1980s.