One of the saddest things I used to see back in the day was the occassional cassette tape, broken or discarded out the car window and laying on the side of the road. The tape was usually unspooled and flowing and shimmering in the breeze as cars passed by, caught in the drafts. I always wondered about these poor tapes. What their story was.

Was it a tape that was broken and tossed out the window, bouncing and coming to rest on the side of the road? Tape coming out and wisping in the wind… part of it still stuck in the tape deck? Cars passing back and forth over the tape that once held INXS or Greg Khin or Best of the 70’s unceremoniously.

Or perhaps it was a “greatest hits of our relationship” tape (with hand lettered label and decorated box) flung out in anger after the breakup, or dropped out the driver’s side window in the direct path of cars in hopes of instant pulverization, what it deserved. All of it’s songs ruined forever.

Unspooled tape was going to be my original backdrop for this blog. Here was my original picture.

Interestingly, I could only find one picture of unspooled tape on the roadside on Google. I used to see this all the time. I know that the frequency of sightings is likely diminished due to CD’s taking over, but I thought I would find a bunch of pictures. I always wondered if it was just me that was saddened slightly by the the tape being tattered by the wind. It never occured to me to stop and take a picture of it. I wish I had. I may have to have my own photo session. In the meantime…

OMG. Cassette tape portraits!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iri5/sets/72157611954107572

Amazing!