Enigma BBQ

North of Memphis, this roadside store I don’t think is ever open. I know that people still gather here to smoke BBQ outside in the parking lot.

So this is a photo archive of something I am familiar with but do not understand. I go past it almost every week but I have not ever stopped to find out what it is. I have stopped here, but not when people are using it. I think it is compelling. What it was and what it is now are foreign to me, but it radiates evidence of past use. This photo displays some of that evidence and may draw you into this mystery I have found.

As I pass by over time I may learn more, I may become more intrigued and I may never add to this story. But this is a photo archive: one in a series of one.

Other archives I have created of events, some happen every year, some may never happen again. I think the photos do create an archive that cannot be replaced. First, they are a demonstration that the event took place. Not that the existence is in question, but you can see people where there, the kind of weather and environment and you can judge the image to your memory or what you may have heard about the event.

Second, the photos tell a unique story. A video or written description may lead the viewer to some conclusion, or may not tell a particular thread. A photo may have the same drawbacks, but it also has an infinite world beyond the photo frame. The story may be the photo, it may be outside the photo or in the background of the photo, and it could even be about taking the photo.

Finally, I am a visual person, so the photo may say to me more than some people. I tend to remember things better that I can visualize. That may be an advantage or it may be a limitation. It is certainly easier for me to explain what I have photographed than things that I have experienced without a documented image.

I have photo albums of the Komen Breast Cancer events, Bike races and disability rights protests; listed below are some of the non-standard events that I have taken photos of:

2020 Soulsville: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmR1EqLx

2018 March for Our Lives: https://www.flickr.com/gp/timmwheat/2W560F

2018 Overton Park 10k: https://www.flickr.com/gp/timmwheat/4X1JtL

2009 Boulder Pancake Breakfast: https://flic.kr/s/aHskV5GdKh

Overton Park 10k

Note: Since I wrote this, that store has been painted. It is still not used and because of the pandemic it is not a gathering place either. It still seems to have some care but never any customers. Enigma BBQ?

Photo by Tim Wheat.

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