Barefoot and Happy

Chasing Cars

We packed eleven people into the Land Rover yesterday so I volunteered to nestle myself into the space between the back back seat and the window, a place normally reserved for baggage. Only moderately uncomfortable (really), it provided a perfect position to watch the wake of our passing through the back roads of the "coffee highlands." That wake was almost always children running to see us pass or when moving slow enough, running after us. Unaffected by the dust or exhaust fumes, these kids would cautiously but speedily run at our pace.

I raised my camera without being able to see through the viewfinder and snapped away, careful not to get the spare tire in the shot. I shot about ten frames and let it go at that. Not having the mobility or ability to compose or even chimp the images, I let the fates give me what they had. I later took a look at the shots and this one is far and away my favorite. It has a sense of urgency that, if you didn't know what it really was, looks like kids escaping a battle scene. Happily, it's nothing of the sort.

Make pictures.