White Cloud: A Year as a Ride Along

Living across the street from the fire station, “White Cloud” started with my interest in photographing an active fire; but the project grew deeper than that, as I was a white cloud — someone who never got to see the action of a fire when riding on a shift.

My initial perception of firefighters was that most of their job was primarily dedicated to fighting fires, which is somewhat of an anomaly for the firefighters in the city of Forest Grove, OR. Much of their time is spent attending medical calls, filing reports, and training. This body of work is meant to show contrast between the public’s understanding of a firefighter’s career versus what the job truly entails. To show this I present a single, posed black and white portrait of each firefighter I worked with, juxtaposed against several photos of the same firefighters performing daily duties, all mounted against retired fire hose.