Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

 CB77 Pirsig Photograph  -  Analysis

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Sometimes, just when you thought you have considered all angles on a familiar topic, along comes something that sheds on it some new light. In this case, I think it is safe to say that what you are about to read not only sheds new light, but puts the entire matter into a completely new dimension.

This was received out of the ether, not too long ago:

"...The main reason I am writing [however] is because I am bored at work and am procrastinating about getting on with some humdrum, though not unpleasant, tasks.

I used to do some very basic photo interpretation in the Navy and was a photographer for a small magazine and some other places. While I was looking at the photo of Pirsig on the Superhawk with his (presumed) son, I made a few observations and decided to take the chance on whether they might interest you.

It's my experience that the time when most photos like this are made is at the beginning of a trip and everyone is excited and enthusiastic about what lays down the road ahead. The sun is nearly overhead making the time somewhere between 11-3 depending on the latitude, so they have probably stopped for lunch, given that there is a picnic table in the background right. It is under a shelter because you can see the supports and the table is covered by its shadow.

They are probably at a rest stop. They have probably finished eating and are ready to get back onto the road because there is nothing on the table, where I assume they ate, and because their bags are packed. Usually when I have traveled, when snapshots like this are made it is usually after the meal when everyone is full. Normally, when pulling into a stop for lunch, people are hungry and lunch comes first then the relaxing and time for snapshots.

This would also have given them time to meet the photographer, who may have been someone picnicing nearby and probably saw them taking photos of each other and offered to take one of them together. There was probably a couple of other photos on the roll either of the boy with the cycle or Pirsig with the cycle.

What can be seen of the terrain shows it to be flat or rolling country, probably in the plains, unless there is a mountain range out of the photo. The weather is slightly cool, judging by the Pirsig's long sleeves and the boy's jacket, although these may be worn as protection against road rash, though I do not see motorcycle helmets around and so do not know how concerned they were about safety.

There are a few small flowers blooming at Pirsig's feet and between the Superhawk and the picnic shelter. Assuming the weather is cool, the photo may have been made in spring. The boy is smiling directly at the camera, in typical tourist fashion, but Pirsig apparently wants himself to be photographed as he would appear while driving the Superhawk.

Assuming this is almost the entire photo frame with a minimal amount cropped out, the original photo was about a 3"x5" and probably taken with a typical 35mm camera. The quality is not good for a medium format and most medium format film has square frames. The photographer has a good eye for composition (although he/she did cut off Pirsig's right toes and the horizon is not quite level) and probably was into photography as a hobby, if not a profession. He/she was a good photographer, but not a great one. The camera did not have a flash, judging by the shadows on Pirsig's and the boy's sides, or the flash failed."

Written and submitted by Phil Slattery

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...and that's what happens to your Honda SuperHawk web site when the US Navy gets involved...