My walk to the polls, a photo journal

 

In all my photography here on clerkmanifesto, I am ever at pains to show you the most remarkable, striking possible representations of the world I encounter. And that's fine. But it doesn't necessarily get to the day to day of what my world exactly looks like.

So for today's photo essay, one documenting my walk to go vote in a minor election in Saint Minneapolis, I resolved to take relatively random pictures along my way, and to leave those pictures largely untouched in the post processing. Does this provide for the most compelling of my photography? Perhaps not. But in walking along, grabbing pictures of anything that caught my eye, I am doing something a little different, maybe laying a foundational understanding for the more compelling and scenic photography you are accustomed to encountering here at clerkmanifesto.

So, come with me on my walk to go vote in the 2023 election, where the murky shreds of democracy are barely visible and even in the most Democratic of cities, people still make terrible choices.

My neighborhood is riddled with alleys, and as I start out my walk I wind through them. It's a bit rough along the garages and back fences. But sometimes there will be a bit of charm to some small gate back there, and so when I saw this white picket inspired archway, I took my first pic:

Here's another back gateway along the same alley:

Halloween is over, but not all the decorations are down. I found this out in the abandoned fringe of someone's yard.

At least, I assume it's a Halloween decoration!

Out on the stately main streets I caught a couple of wild animals gamboling along the front lawns. I guess during the weekdays the neighborhoods get so quiet the wildlife emerges from the nearby river wilds.

Here I've made it onto the local college campus with a large seating area going unused because of the apocalypse and everything. Just kidding about the apocalypse. It's not like there are elephants wandering through! I think everyone is just in class.

This is near the stately main entrance to the campus.

This is looking back across the street at that main entrance of the last photo. We'll be turning camera right here. But this is a good illustration of everything in this journey: It's all kind of pretty, but so pointlessly spread out in its stupid American way that it's weirdly half abandoned and so can't regularly support commercial ventures in walkable ways.

But I digress.

Finally we are getting close to the polling place, as suggested by the parking set aside. We have left the main campus, but this college has spread far from its original center and out into significant campuses in the neighborhood. 

I came across these two guys! I wonder if they'll be voting too!

Here's the entrance to my voting place!

This is as much of the interior of my polling place as I have to show you today. I was feeling a bit circumspect about taking pictures of the polling place, though, come to think of it, I don't really know why. It's not like they're secret.

I voted:

 No. No. NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 

But it all happened anyway.

Outside, not far away, is this terrific bronze sculpture by a local artist who's heyday was back in the nineties. I forget their name, but I think they still have a store on Franklin Avenue. They are seriously underappreciated, but whimsy always is. 

Oh lord, don't I know it!

Here are some less good sculptures, not that they are bad- these of corrugated steel and sheet metal cutouts.

This is even better with the steel, and it has a book theme! 

And animals like to play on it!

And then finally we come to this handy passthrough of yet another university building. It is one of the things I appreciate about this University's design. This will nicely send me on my way to the river where we can resume tomorrow!