Wager #4 : Red Tape

20.5 x 29.5 cm, 2009
Found color photograph and some found chairs*
*The round back chair is cut out of the paper.

//

Last week I had to go to the Auslaenderbehoerde (the Foreigner's Agency) to get a new residency permit.
These offices are the same everywhere; lines, waiting rooms, nondescript furniture, instant coffee machines. Then there are the employees - those people who have stuffed animal collections behind their desks and also those who hate their jobs (sometimes they are one in the same).
I had spent 2 weeks running around town prior to my meeting, getting forms filled out from different agencies and asking people to write letters for me stating my employment. Even though all my paperwork was in order, I felt vulnerable. My residency permit was contingent on someone who didn't know me. During these moments while I was waiting for my number (666!) to be called, I started to think about the economic crisis again. My permit request could have been turned down - there are Germans here who could do what I do... As I managed to work myself into a frenzy - number 666 flashed on the digital monitor.
I went to the room and met with the official. Fortunately I was granted an extension for now.

Wager #3 : Santa Barbara Burning

30 x 45 cm, Archival Digital Print
2009

I will never forget the Sycamore Canyon Fire of 1979 in Santa Barbara - it was dangerously close to my family home. My parents, sister and I had packed the car and we were ready to evacuate. The fire marshall kept driving through our streets warning us and the neighbors that we would have to go at any moment. Former World War II bomber planes had been converted to aerial water tankers and were dropping water on the scene. The air was hot and ash was every where. We even managed to see the flames as they shot up on the mountain behind us. It was devastating. Fortunately at the very last minute we didn't have to evacuate because the wind took a turn, but I had many friends who's homes were not saved.

Forest fires are a unfortunately very common in Santa Barbara County. About 2 months ago the city endured yet another huge fire. While there for the holidays, I toured the burned out areas. What I really don't understand is the way a fire moves. 'Dancing' has often been associated with fires. That word rang in my mind as I saw one house left standing on what was now a bald mountain side.