MOMENTS 2006

R. Marsh Starks

Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2006 | 7 a.m.

R. Marsh Starks

I knew after buying my first camera in high school that I wanted to be a newspaper photographer. While pursuing a journalism degree in Arizona I interned at the Arizona Republic and spent a year with the Yuma Daily Sun. Internship complete and degree in hand, I found myself unemployed. The Las Vegas Sun was looking for a photographer to help out for three months. That was more than 15 years ago.

I was weary of throwing elbows with other photographers during a "photo op" at the CineVegas Film Festival. I stepped to the end of the red carpet for a little more working room and hopefully a different perspective on the event. What I found was an interesting contrast between celebrities being photographed under the yellow light and the general public arriving at the screening under the green neon illumination. Hours after taking the photograph I realized the velvet ropes, red carpet, backdrop and the color of light were the symbols of division between celebrity and the common man. The photograph became one of my favorites when I starting seeing it in those terms.

If you can't rub elbows with Sylvester Stallone, you can still rent a machine gun just like Rambo uses. I spent some time with a couple from England as they pondered a wall of automatic weapons for rent. Ultimately they chose pistols that were more in keeping with James Bond than Rambo, but I enjoyed watching the decision-making process. I like the contrast of a colorfully dressed tourist choosing an implement of destruction while keeping safety in mind. I find the body language of all three rather amusing.

Body language and facial expression keep me looking at both a photo of a hockey fight and one of students waiting in a theater lobby. If everyone pictured had a cartoon caption balloon above them, what would it contain? I hope you enjoy filling in the balloons, too.