Kerouac

Kerouac 

June 24, 2012. Kerouac.

The small house where Beats author Jack Kerouac lived while waiting for the publication of On the Road and writing The Dharma Bums resides in the quiet College Park neighborhood near downtown Orlando.

It is now home to the Jack Kerouac Writer in Residence project.

I've known that the house existed since I was in college at Rollins, but I had never bothered to find it. An article I read regarding the tie between Vespa scooter culture in the 1950s and early 1960s and the Beat movement made me think of finding this hidden local landmark. Some night shots seemed the only appropriate way to go.

After taking a few long exposures, I decided to step into one of them for a self portrait. It turned out to be my favorite of the set.

Kerouac reportedly once said that Saint Petersburg, Florida, was "a good place to come to die."

Jack Kerouac died in Saint Petersburg, two hours west of Orlando, on October 21, 1969. He was only 47.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 8 seconds. f/8. ISO 100. LR 2.