Bugsy and Duke, 1969

This photo seems a good starting point for my rebranded website. It's funny how often I find broader meanings in images I once dismissed as insignificant. One of the things I love about photography is how images continue developing over time.

Bugsy the iguana and Duke coexisted peacefully as pets of a friend. Timid Duke was apprehensive of Bugsy, who spent most of his day in the branches of a plastic tree (also his toilet) basking in the light of a living room lamp.

Once time when Bugsy was taken outside for fresh air and sunshine, he sprinted towards the chain link fence with me and my friends chasing after him. I caught him first, or so I thought, quickly realizing all I had was his tail. I didn't know an Iguana's tail could just drop away like that.

We caught him quickly enough, and his tail slowly grew back.. Unfortunately, there was always a knot where it had broken and I don't think my friends ever forgave me for that. Bugs rarely got out of the house again, but he was well cared for and lived a long, contented life.

Things in this image that used to make me cringe - the bare flash, the garish colors, the iguana's disinterested look and those harsh reflections in the plastic-entombed couch (people did that in the 60s) now give the photo an historical context.

I'm glad this image survived so many of my ruthless edits.