Flag Disposal?

As I continue to photograph for my "American vernacular"/"Americana" project, I find myself still drawn to the way Americans show patriotism through the display of our colors and our flag. As a junior high student, I had the job of raising and lowering the flags before and after school since I was a member of the crossing guard. Since we had the responsibility of handling the flag twice per day, proper flag etiquette was drilled into our brains: the flag must never touch the ground, it must be lit if displayed at night, it must be properly folded in order to be stored, a ripped or otherwise imperfect flag must be replaced, flags that can no longer be used must be destroyed by burning. These rules of etiquette play through my mind as I come across varying displays of the flag. This "flag disposal" receptacle is the first I've ever seen. After a tiny bit of research, I discovered that you can apparently take old flags to the American Legion for disposal if you prefer to do that rather than burning them.

I'm also really attracted to things that have a nostalgic feel, such as this building with the "Eddy's Bread" sign painting. It seems like a large majority of things I'm photographing are signs, such as in these two images:


These two images still have strong color relationships and still include red, white, and blue. I'll have to wait and see if that theme continues in all of my images.

This project has been a lot of fun for me so far. It's a totally different type of photography than my previous two projects (Forever Families and Suicide Survivors), but it's a great change of pace for me. I kind of like the idea of heading out on a scavenger hunt to see what I can find, what draws my attention, and the shape that this project will eventually take. Thanks for reading and checking out my work!