I like trains. On November 23rd, I found this scrawled on the the side of an abandoned boxcar that sits by the E & N (Esquimalt & Nanaimo) Roundhouse in West Victoria, B.C. This message or declaration or cry to the gods was brand new. I know this because I had shot the same boxcar only two days earlier and, at that time, it had no message spray painted on its side.
I don’t know why people need to declare to the world their privately held personal preferences. Isn’t it enough just to stare at the boxcar and admire it? Maybe the message isn’t about what it says, but about what it does. Maybe there’s an implied bit that can be added to the message: I like trains and I exist. The spray painted message satisfies a basic existential need: it confirms to the spray painter that they aren’t invisible but can act in the real world. I arrive on the scene with my camera and amplify that confirmation by sharing it with the rest of the world.
