Shopping for Props

Since I was a kid I’ve enjoyed rummaging for interesting antiques, neat junk and found objects. In fact, I can remember being down on McKinney Avenue in Dallas in the 70’s with my mom as we went through old houses chock full of miscellaneous things from the past. Back then my fascination was with old felt hats and vintage wood snow skis. These days I sometimes find myself dumpster diving looking for worn boards filled with texture.

A couple weekends ago Amy and I headed out to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds to peruse objects of desire (textures, old kitchen utensils, boxes, etc) at the Flea Market to use in my food photography. Naturally I enjoy doing this with Amy. She’s got a great eye for “stuff” … her art direction background comes in handy when I need an unbiased opinion about how something might look in a photograph.

So, last Friday (because Friday’s are free parking) we made our way to see what vendors the warmer weather would attract and what their wares would be. I landed a cool old whisk, a few neat galvanized boxes and an industrial cart to use as a coffee table in the studio.

At this point, I think I’ll wait a few months before I go again … while parking is free on Friday’s, I have a difficult time restraining my buying urges for things that are visually stimulating.

-Kyle

P.S. The flea market has other random things like socks, shampoo, work gloves. I actually bought some work gloves and pony clamps this trip, too.