Spare Parts

Bits and pieces of forgotten joy... on display for a bargain basement song.

I caught this display window in Zacatecas, Mexico last summer. I instantly knew I had to photograph it, but it was first day in the city and all I wanted to do is wander... and find a nice bottle of mezcal or tequila. I tried everyday for a week to find this little shop again... and, after I did it was closed. I returned another time, but the clouds moved over and the light was too flat... I returned on the last day I had and the proprietor was closing the shop! I begged him to raise the tine store cover so I could take a quick snap, but he refused.

I began to walk away and just decided to file this one under, "the one that got away"... when the man called me back. He couldn't understand why I wanted to take a photo of throw-away spare toy body parts, but he knew I'd been persistent for days and allowed me un minuto! I was walking on air the rest of the evening. Another one bagged... or it could have been the worm.