Cornmeal pics

Organic resistance

Five points of view

He’s a blind, toothless, albino runt who eats Gerber baby food because of his condition. If he were human, he might be shuffling alone, stirring the gravel with his shoes along the fence at recess. For now, his name is Alby. But if he gets sold, that may change. Mikeala Adams – Lasater, 11, can’t help but hold him. She lifts the frail guinea pig out of his cage with maternal gentleness inside Mom and Pop’s Pet Shop in Ashland, Mo.

“He’s just sweet, and he’s funny and he’s different than the other animals,” said Beth Fitzgerald, who owns the shop with her husband, Ross.

A light snow cancelled classes today, and Adams - Lasater volunteered to help Fitzgerald at the pet shop performing such duties as cleaning hamster cages, handling cockatiels and feeding the salt and freshwater fish. For Adams – Lasater, the fun is in handling the animals.

“I like the mice because I have a mouse, and she’s my companion,” she says. “She’s my baby.” Adams – Lasater’s mouse’s name is Lucy. “Her middle name is Jane.”

From the outside, the shop’s modest sign belie the bustle inside. The hum of the fish tank filters mixed with the sharp chirps of parakeets, cockatiels and lovebirds, and the occasional croak of the tree frogs creates the shop’s soundtrack. The squeak of the mouse wheel gets lost among the howls of Apollo, Fitzgerald’s playful black lab who is the first to greet any new customers. It’s one big cacophony that eventually fades into the background like elevator music as visitors browse the store.

Mom and Pop’s Pet Shop, which opened in April 2006, is the only pet store in Ashland. It’s nice not to have to drive to Columbia, customers say. But not everyone has official pet business.

“The after school crowd, they kind of browse around. They just kind of kill time and tell me about their day,” Fitzgerald said. “I do have several people who like to come in on a regular basis and just tell me how their pets are doing and ask questions.”

Regardless, Adams – Lasater makes sure everyone gets a tour of the newest animal additions.

The black and white, spiny hedgehog lays curled in a miniature wooden house. “Her face just reminds me of the rainforest and like an anteater or something,” Adams – Lasater says. “When you pet her she feels like a hairbrush.”

She’ll make sure you see the “funky fins” of the angel fish, the neon glow of the violet tetras, and the other Finding Nemo look-alikes.

“[At home] I have seven mice, two rats, one hamster, five birds … another dwarf hamster which is my brother’s. I have a gecko, five dogs, three cats and a bunch of fish,” Adams – Lasater says.

If she’s not tending to her own collection, she’s volunteering at the pet shop.

“Any free time that I don’t have to do homework or something, then I’ll come here.”

“I just like animals, I guess.”

Shanghi Fun

UBIQUITY and CARS

To show this aspect of the whole Cars and Culture thing, I have a few ideas.

Cars at the junkyard. Piles of them everywhere. Smashed cars, broken cars, all of it.

The dealership seems to be another good place to start to show the number of cars we deal with on a daily basis. I could also photograph at a Car dealer auction, where dealers from all over the area come to bid on used cars. They roll them out just like a cattle auction. It might be interesting to show the number of dealers that convene to bid on these cars. Also, at an auto auction facility south of town, there are hundreds of cars. This could be a good setting to show cars in numbers.


I'd like to shoot a nice night shot of traffic. Or a day shot of traffic. I think this is the one thing that we cannot overlook for this project. We can't ignore the obvious shots like this. I'd like to make a cool headlight, taillight blur picture of cars on the Highway or on the street. Also, I think some kind of shot that shows a traffic jam or some frustrated motorists.

Another way to show that cars are everywhere would be to find a place where you wouldn't expect to see a car. For example, if someone left a car in the woods or in a field. I could make an image that would say, "What's a car doing there?"


That's all for now. More ideas to come with more investigation.

Adam Wisneski