Invariably, there's bound to be some random hair swatches in the parking lot. Not sure quite how this happens. Maybe it was just really windy. Perhaps a hair-tearing fight ensued. Cheap glue is always a possibility. In any event, the amount of weave in this parking lot gives us pause to reflect on why the heck this lot is so special. And I refuse to believe it's anything more than weave.
More importantly, how can someone go about their business after losing their hair extensions in the parking lot? Certainly, they're experiencing the proverbial Bad Hair Day after suffering such a loss. Perhaps at the point you lose a clump of your 'do, it's time to just call it a day and just go home. I know if it were me, I'd be in such a lousy mood, I'd retreat to my bedroom and pull the covers up over my head. Certainly tomorrow brings a brighter day.
It's important to accessorize, especially on the go. You never know who may come across and you want to be fashionable. Whether you've arranged a play date with your pimp, or you're going to a casual business meeting, having the right accessories is paramount to your success. Fortunately, if you failed to remember to wear a complete set of earrings, there just may be options for you in the parking lot.
Say you're looking for a simple, albeit dented, hoop. We can help. A passerby stepped on the earring, giving it its signature dent. But that's the nature of parking lot jewelry. Never perfect, but chock full of character. The hoop measures about 2 inches in diameter and is coated in some gold-colored substance. This perfectly fine accessory has been abandoned for your use. Bacterial infection guaranteed.
Need a little extra sparkle to make it though the day? Perhaps a questionably pink "gemstone" is more your style. The detailed bezel cut is accented with a faux gold setting. Although this stud lacks a back to secure the earring in place, a nearby discarded cigarette butt can easily be converted into an earring back.
Of course, no amount of jewelry is appropriate without a little more preparation in your daily routine. Earrings are simply ornaments for the sides of our head. They highlight our face. But if our faces are incomplete, we may as well go back to bed and shut off the light. Who would recognize us without our faces. We're talking makeup. Rouge is important. Failing to apply it can ruin your day. But if your compact is lacking a brush to apply your blush, search no further.
Beyond an abundance of cigarette butts and other such careless litter, random objects somehow find their way into our parking lot. The 8-foot tall wrought iron fence is certainly just for show. Two gates roll horizontally, but typically remain open. There are no locks. I've tried to pry open closed entrances after some unknown force magically moved them the night before. Either I'm too weak, or I lack coordination, or both, but I can never get them open. It's clear they've lost their luster and need not be used as they were originally designed.
At the time I snapped the second shot shown in this post, I didn't realize the ominously red-colored stain in the foreground. I cannot definitively state there is no human DNA in that stain.
At the end of the week, the lot is set up for the surrounding nightclubs and bars to generate revenue for park and neighborhood redevelopment, or so we were told. After daytime business hours on those days, sidewalk signs reading "$5 Parking". Presumably much of the subject matter photographed for this site are objects left behind by some haphazard drunk or disco diva. Wild party nights could potentially lead to vomiting in the lot, or say, a nearly intact abandoned car window.
Then again, the gifters of these objects could be just about anyone. It's hard to peg just what type of person is traipsing through the parking lot when just about every type does. Everyone from the club kid to the clinic patient and the business person to the hooker has come through here. What's more is that a revolving door of drug-addicted patrons temporarily live in the rehab facility. They're perpetually coming outside for smoke breaks (a story onto itself). In my seven years working at this building, I've seen all walks of life. And I imagine it's been that way since long before me.
But variety is the spice of life. It certainly makes our days more interesting when we could randomly just happen upon something that really doesn't belong in a parking lot. Except for this lot. It's perfectly clear that EVERYTHING belongs here. Some days, when we come across something particularly interesting, it's like hitting the lottery.
But note, EVERY picture was photographed in our office building parking lot. Our building is old and rich with history. Something to be proud of. The parking lot leaves a little to be desired.
Nestled in a very urban area, the building is home to a couple community non-profits, a rehabilitation facility, and a clinic. The parking lot is not huge, but has space for around 50 cars. It's surrounded by a tall wrought iron fence (which you'd think would stop a lot of random things from appearing in it...but I digress). Neighboring businesses include a bank, a fast food joint, and a string of nightclubs and bars.
You'll notice three prominent background textures to objects seen on this site: concrete, asphalt, and brick. All three of these elements comprise our parking lot. Well, technically the bricks are an alley, but the city disowned the alley, so it's all ours!
Yes, there's a wooden pole that extends from the merge of the asphalt/concrete, right along the border with brick. Out of all the things that just DON'T MAKE SENSE on this site, trust us, the pole is the most logical thing in our parking lot.
Now that all the disclaimers are out of the way, if you're still captivated, you won't be for much longer...we'll have new treasures for you to see soon!
A friend and I started making a photography collection of objects seen about our office
building's parking lot. Strange, perhaps. But not strange in the fact we're the
odd ones. No, what's odd is our subject matter. This may or may not be a
typical urban landscape, it's just stuff we spot in and around the parking lot.
It boggles the mind, really.
We'll never know how most of this stuff got there, but invariably, at night
things happen and objects that just wouldn't ordinarily find its way into an
office parking lot somehow manages to do just that. This parking lot has
stories to tell, we're sure. But since it can't talk, we must construct stories
based on what we see when the sun comes out.
Welcome to the Parking Lot Diaries.
Invariably, there's bound to be some random hair swatches in the parking lot. Not sure quite how this happens. Maybe it was just really windy. Perhaps a hair-tearing fight ensued. Cheap glue is always a possibility. In any event, the amount of weave in this parking lot gives us pause to reflect on why the heck this lot is so special. And I refuse to believe it's anything more than weave. 
