
Pictures in the Side View Mirror
A photo essay
I enjoy taking a picture within a picture, in my side view or wing mirror, in which images are closer than they appear. I’ve always been fascinated by the photos I see in the rear of cars and bicycles. There’s a subtle detail in this small reflection that I miss going forward.
I especially appreciate the roads and skies and seeing them in the tiny confines of a side-view mirror. It signifies the idea of travel. I am going places or returning from trips, seeing things from a new perspective. I like how the mirror also catches a glimpse of the time and season changes.

Here I am, waiting for my wife in a parked car. She was in an art store buying supplies. I had to entertain myself somehow, and you can only play so many Scrabble games on the iPhone. This is a wing-view snapshot of the palm trees and the foggy mountains of Santa Barbara in the distance. And if I head straight, I go toward the Pacific Ocean.

I took this picture at the corner of Waverly Street in Palm Springs, where I paused from a biking trip. It was approximately 6:30 a.m., an orange-yellow sky shone brightly, and you could also see the palms, mountains, and highway.
The early morning is when I ride around Palm Springs and Cathedral City, thinking about poetry and story ideas and listening to books on Audible like The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. It’s a good time to bike because fewer cars are on the road. Although I’m probably waking up the neighbors with my audible books, they haven’t complained so far.

We are tired and hungry, returning from a two-week writing conference in San Antonio, Texas. That’s Wheezy (from Toy Story fame) gazing out the window, enjoying the scenery, and making sure the paparazzi aren’t following us.
I like to see what’s behind me, where I’ve been, what highways I’ve crossed, and skies my mind has traversed
— Excerpt from The Road Behind at Social Yogi.
© 2021 Mark Tulin
Two more photo essays by Mark Tulin:
