The Pile

I work in the warehouse of an AV company. I'm surrounded by different sized boxes and containers full of lights and speakers and microphones and led tiles and rack units with one button on them that cost the same as my car [2007 Mazda3 touring hatchback in Galaxy Gray]. We were previously operating out of a multi-occupant building alongside a sexual lubricant distributor and two young guys with a purple Lamborghini [I think it was a 2020-something Huaracan Evo in Viola Pasifae] that they parked outside their loading door on days they were taking pics of their racks of vintage hoodies.

Our space there was cramped, disorganized, and completely filled with equipment, and we were ordering more all the time. We were gonna blow the roof off the place with how much stuff we had packed in there. Our owners secured a new building that was formerly the headquarters of a regional pizza chain. A year and a half of demo and renovations later and it was time to move all of our gear.

The owners ordered custom shelving units from China for the new warehouse space [uprights in Company Red and shelf units in Mint Green]. The container filled with every piece of the shelving was, of course, delayed. As we moved all 1 godzillion pieces of gear to the new spot, there were no shelves for it to land on. Our organizational method was to take all our items and make one enormous pile on the floor. It was a nightmare. It was also a perfect environment to practice composing shots with my camera.

The most exciting element was all the differences in texture. The tightly wrapped black plastic against the stark white walls, the mountains of bubble wrap taken off the sharp wire shelving units.

Something about that bottom middle pic makes me think about that youtube channel where DJs are in an elevator

My goal in the space was to find ways to cut the frame up with interesting shapes. I tried to find ways to look through doorways or find multiple planes of depth. It was sterile and controlled and a bit overwhelming. Nothing was moving, there was no timing to anything. It was a environment of pure composition. I felt silly several times because I had a labyrinth of unique shapes and I just didn't know how to attack it. I don't think I rose to meet the space with any real unique perspective, but it was good practice. The real fun part was when we started building the shelves.

The pressure of the timing to catch people and machinery in the composition was so exciting, it felt like street photography. The pic on the top right feels like some kind of warehouse playset.

I've been really happy with the portability of my little digital camera, it fits in my work jacket and my purse, and it comes out pretty fast to snap the pics. It's been the perfect little unit so far.