" Several days later Murray asked me about a tourist attraction known as the most photographed
barn in America. We drove twenty-two miles into the country around Farmington. There were meadows
and apple orchards. White fences trailed through the rolling fields. Soon the signs started appearing. THE
MOST PHOTOGRAPHED BARN IN AMERICA. We counted five signs before we reached the site. There
were forty cars and a tour bus in the makeshift lot. We walked along a cowpath to the slightly elevated
spot set aside for viewing and photographing. All the people had cameras; some had tripods, telephoto
lenses, filter kits. A man in a booth sold postcards and slides--pictures of the barn taken from the elevated
spot. We stood near a grove of trees and watched the photographers. Murray maintained a prolonged
silence, occasionally scrawling some notes in a little book.
"No one sees the barn," he said finally.
A long silence followed.
"Once you've seen the signs about the barn, it becomes impossible to see the barn."
He fell silent once more. People with cameras left the elevated site, replaced at once by others.
"We're not here to capture an image, we're here to maintain one. Every photograph reinforces the
aura. Can you feel it, Jack? An accumulation of nameless energies."
There was an extended silence. The man in the booth sold postcards and slides.
"Being here is a kind of spiritual surrender. We see only what the others see. The thousands who
were here in the past, those who will come in the future. We've agreed to be part of a collective
perception. This literally colors our vision. A religious experience in a way, like all tourism."
Another silence ensued.
"They are taking pictures of taking pictures," he said.
13
He did not speak for a while. We listened to the incessant clicking of shutter release buttons, the
rustling crank of levers that advanced the film.
"What was the barn like before it was photographed?" he said. "What did it look like, how was it
different from other barns, how was it similar to other barns? We can't answer these questions because
we've read the. signs, seen the people snapping the pictures. We can't get outside the aura. We're part of "
Image for Quotes