Leonard, Salvation Mountain, Niland, California, 2006 by Summer '07 contender Jay Gaffney

Intrigued by this portrait, taken by today's contender Jay Gaffney, I fed my curiosity with a little Google search. What I came across turned out to be far more interesting and well-documented than I expected. The pictured man is Leonard Knight, creator of the public piece of religious folk art known as Salvation Mountain, which is set outside the town of Niland, California. According to the official website, "Salvation Mountain is Leonard's tribute to God and his gift to world with its simple yet powerful message: 'God is Love'." I found detailed pictures of the work here. I knew that the story behind this photo was going to be good, but this is far better than what I imagined. I was just thinking that he was some washed out Kris Kristofferson-type communal farmer, as opposed to the awesomely tanned religious missionary/artist that he is.

While browsing Gaffney's website, I found the portrait placed in a series alongside other photos of California. I particularly enjoyed the photograph entitled "Dinosaur, Cabazon California." There is a good amount of work on his website, ranging from "portraits to street photographs to photos of roadside debris and waste," he explains. Gaffney considers himself a documentary photographer.

Gaffney began taking pictures as a child with his dad's old 620 roll film camera. He remembers, "The first photographs I [made] were of summer homes destroyed by the blizzard on 1978 in Duxbury, Massachusetts." He later moved on to 35 mm and working in darkrooms. Finally, he attended The New England School of Photography, where he majored in Black & White and minored in Photojournalism. Gaffney finds his inspiration in so-called "street photographers", like Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, Danny Lyon, and Robert Frank. He also mentions the portrait artists Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, and Mary Ellen Mark.

The following is his biography. He notes at the top "(with apologies to Allen Ginsberg)":

Jay Gaffney was born May 27 1965, the fifth son of Eleanor Gaffney, native Woburnite, and John E. Gaffney Jr., truck driver and renaissance man, in Woburn, Massachusetts.

High school in Woburn till 18, father died in 1980, Westfield State College, market research, New England School of Photography, Boston & Jamaica Plain, photo store clerk & lab monkey, Kita-Kyushu Japan, England & Wales, book buyer, motorcycles, stopped photographing, Marianne, back to Woburn.

Unix consulting, I.T. work, tech bubble bursts, started taking pictures again, Peace Rallies, worked part time 2 years. Later unemployed, photo studios in Somerville, then Boston, shows on Newbury Street, in Boston City Hall & elsewhere, Appalachian Trail Thruhikers.

Fade to Left Coast awhile, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tucson, then south to Arkansas, Memphis, Mississippi, Texas.

Currently working on book project “South by Southwest�, photographs of the southern United States.

Whew! The countdown is slowly coming to an end. I would say "Enter Soon!", but there's no time for that, so Enter NOW!