On Arbat Street
Moscow, Russia 2009
Arbat Street is a place where you can meet your old friends or find new ones. Musicians play for donations, artists display canvasses, hucksters sell doo-dads from China and lovers stroll.
When we were here in the late 80’s, there were old women who earned a few kopeks by letting people weigh themselves on a scale. It was a large scale and I have no idea of how the old women dragged the thing to Arbat. I suppose the scale belonged to a scale syndicate and she was simply an attendant.
I’m older than you are and I can remember getting weighed when my mother took me shopping. We’d put a penny in the machine and I’d get a ticket with my weight printed on it. It looked like the sort of ticket you’d get at a movie theater. You’d be surprised at how entertaining this can be.
Back to my photo: I’ve tried to make it into another Edward Hopper. (I’m feeling guilty about using his name lately. I don’t think he would like me using it in connection with my photos.) I thought of him because the window reflection shows quite a few people but none of them are connected to each other.
I resurrected this photo using Photoshop, Topaz Impressions and Alien Skin’s Exposure 7. I hadn’t seen it for years and the years have been kind to it. Suddenly, I saw potential for a silk purse.