National Chili Dog Day and a Stack of Ten from Wienerschnitzel
Today is National Chili Dog Day, and if there’s one fast food chain that’s almost synonymous with chili dogs, it’s Wienerschnitzel. Founded in 1961, the chain has built its reputation around hot dogs and has served hundreds of millions of them over the years. For a day dedicated to one of America’s classic fast food favorites, it seemed like the perfect place to stop.
The exact origin of the chili dog is still debated, with several restaurants and regions claiming to have created it during the early 1900s. However it began, the combination of a hot dog, a soft bun, and seasoned chili quickly became a favorite at drive-ins, roadside stands, and fast food restaurants across the country. More than a century later, it’s still one of the most recognizable items on a fast food menu.
For Food From Bag To Background, I picked up ten Wienerschnitzel chili dogs and stacked them against my very black black background. Instead of photographing a single chili dog, I wanted to emphasize the abundance, the texture of the chili, and the unmistakable look of a true fast food icon. Sometimes more really is more.
Whether you celebrate National Chili Dog Day with one chili dog or a stack of ten, today is a good reminder that some of America’s most enduring fast food favorites have earned their place by simply standing the test of time.
You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
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Palm Springs Becomes the Center of the Marilyn Monroe Universe
One question I’ve been getting a lot lately is whether I photographed the Marilyn Monroe Guinness World Record event in Palm Springs this last Saturday.
Yes, I did.
I was there photographing the event for syndication through ZUMA Press, expecting a large crowd, but once I arrived it was just amazing. From ground level it looked as if downtown Palm Springs had been completely overtaken by Marilyn Monroe. Everywhere you looked there were white wigs and white dresses stretching in every direction.
It has been reported that the final count was either 1,034 or 1,037 participants, depending on the source. Either way, it was enough to establish a new Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Marilyn Monroe.
What immediately stood out was the sea of white wigs.
The wigs were part of the registration package given to participants, which explains the remarkable uniformity of the crowd. Everywhere you looked was the same iconic hairstyle repeated hundreds and hundreds of times. White dresses and white wigs stretched in every direction beneath Palm Springs’ famous 26-foot-tall Marilyn Monroe statue.
Another question I’ve also been asked repeatedly since Saturday is whether there were actually any women participating.
Yes.
While the crowd was overwhelmingly men, there were also women throughout the event, some of whom looked remarkably beautiful as their own version of Marilyn herself. The mix of participants only added to the unusual atmosphere.
Despite the Guinness record attempt, the event was more a celebration than a competition. Thousands of spectators joined more than a thousand participants to mark the 100th anniversary of Monroe’s birth. People traveled from around the country, posed for photographs, laughed with strangers, and became part of a unique piece of Palm Springs history.
For one afternoon, Palm Springs became the center of the Marilyn Monroe universe.
If you’re interested in photography ranging from events like this to aviation, food, Muscle Beach, Palm Springs, and some of my more unusual projects, you’ll find them on my website along with my blog and the first additions to my new Motion section at https://www.secondfocus.com
Gas Prices
Yesterday I went out and photographed something that’s been sitting in plain sight for a while now, gas prices.
Not one station. Twenty-one of them.
Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Thousand Palms. Different brands, different corners, different neighborhoods. Same story, just moving a few cents up or down depending on where you stop.
Some are still in the mid-$5 range. Others are well into the $6 range. Diesel is pushing even higher.
There’s nothing staged about any of this. Just pulling over, stepping out, and recording what’s there. The signs don’t need interpretation. They’re already doing that on their own.
What struck me wasn’t just the numbers, it’s how normal they’ve started to feel. Prices that would have been shocking not that long ago now just sit there, backlit in red and green, part of the landscape.
Palm trees, clear skies, desert heat, and gas pushing past six dollars a gallon.
This is one day, one pass through my local area. A snapshot. And if things keep moving the way they have been, it’s probably not the top.
You can see the full set of 40 photographs on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
More of my photography, from editorial work like this to my food projects and everything in between, is there as well.
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