By GARETT FISBECK Staff Photographer on Jun 18, 2013, at 6:14 PM Updated on 6/24 at 4:35 PM
John and Linda Elgin stop to pose for a photo with their dogs, Blaze and Kerian, at a neighborhood near 122nd and Albuquerque in Broken Arrow. John and Linda walk their dogs twice a day through the neighborhood. Linda says she sometimes walks both of them by herself when John is working. GARETT FISBECK/Tulsa World
Yesterday at lunch, photo editor Christopher Smith and I were talking about projects I could do this summer for the blog. We started to talk about ways I could explore neighborhoods of Tulsa and make pictures showing a slice of life in their corners of the world.
Today, in the middle of editing, John Clanton took off his headphones and blurted out his idea. What if we threw darts at a map of Tulsa and went to whatever intersection it landed on? It was the perfect solution to the problem Christopher and I created the day before.
We found an old map of Tulsa in the office and taped it to some cardboard and I took my first throw with a dart we found on the business desk.
I am not a very good shot, so my dart ended up in Broken Arrow, south of the Creek Turnpike.
When I drove to 122nd and Albuquerque, I found a quaint neighborhood with not too much going on.
Just north of the neighborhood, I found a field full of long grass and wildflowers, and a red barn in the distance. As I was leaving, I came across John and Linda Elgin walking their dogs. I explained the project to them and they let me take their portrait.
I am excited to continue this project this summer for two reasons:
1. The most difficult thing about my internship this summer has been getting to know the city of Tulsa and its people. This project forces me to explore neighborhoods and meet people that may lead to more in-depth stories, which will ultimately strengthen my connection to Tulsa.
2. The randomness of this project is fascinating to me. When the dart hits the map, it sends me to a corner of the world that I may have never seen before. It is an avenue (no pun intended) to meet people that I otherwise would have no business talking to.
I can not wait to see where the dart lands next.
-Garett Fisbeck
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A home near 122nd and Albuquerque, in Broken Arrow. GARETT FISBECK/Tulsa World
A barn is shown beyond a field of wildflowers north of 122nd and Albuquerque in Broken Arrow. GARETT FISBECK/Tulsa World
Tulsa World Photo Intern, Garett Fisbeck, begins his "Intersections" project in the Tulsa World photo studio. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
