How do you measure a life? Through jars full of trash gathered during trips to Bourbon Street, Rodeo Drive and the King’s mecca, Graceland? Through a smattering of graveyard dirt collected from the graves of loved ones? Through precisely written tags on toothbrushes and assorted tchotchkes, saved for decades? Through a 585-page inventory? Well, according … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Graceland
Not So Fast, Tom Ryan: Elizabeth Taylor’s Presence and Absence In Catherine Opie’s ‘700 Nimes Road’
In Jay Prosser’s photographic study Light in the Dark Room: Photography and Loss, Prosser analyzes the power of photography to record absence, as well as–seemingly contradictorily–presence. As he explains, “photography is the medium in which we unconsciously encounter the dead…Photographs are not signs of presence but evidence of absence. Or rather the presence of a photograph … Continue reading
He Touched Me: Basking In The Light Of Elvis’ Decadent World-Making at Graceland
Because, faithful Filthy Dreams readers, I have a big announcement: I’ve been reborn! Oh not in any traditional religious sense but I’ve seen the light–the light of the King–after making a pilgrimage to Elvis’ decadent domicile Graceland outside of Memphis. Continue reading