Swan Lovin'

And now, to cap off a tremendous year of donation sorting, photocopy sneaking, doodad hoarding, and general junk piracy, may I present to you, for everlasting glory upon the internet, the greatest Junk Pirate photo of all times:

I really don't know if any commentary could possible do justice to the creepiness and yet tender loving emotions of the old lady in her kitchen caressing a swan photo that I like to call "Swan Lovin". It probably is even better without any context, even if that context is just how I came across it.

This picture was one of literally hundreds of old photos featuring some guy's transformation from little kid into old man (the most recent photos were from the 1970s). These photos got donated in two giant trash bags in December of 2005. As amazing as this is on its own, many of the pictures featured this guy hanging out in nature with various swans, ducks, and geese. Minds were and continue to be blown.

In fact, the cover of Junk Pirate issue #10 was a goose portrait photo from the same collection. That issue (some of which is reprinted in the Junk Pirate Volume One book) featured a bunch of photos from those trash bags.

Swan Lovin ended up framed and available at the December 2006 Junk Pirate art exhibition. I think it sold for like 8 or 16 bucks. I didn't even scan it or anything. Luckily for me, and all of us, the person who bought it, artist Lisa Romero, was nice enough to scan it for me.

Happy New Year!