Car Crashes & Other Sad Stories

by Mell Kilpatrick

Taschen, 175 pp., $29.99

Ten years ago this would have ended up on my coffeetable, sitting alongside Gray’s Anatomy and some treatise on forensic photography. Ten years closer to the soil and I’ve mellowed like a fine rotgut, choosing instead to keep it on the shelf, out of dog-harm’s way where it will be less likely to upset visiting co-eds. Splendid, crystal-clear black and white photographs of car crashes, circa 1950-something. The shutter has caught these sorry folk in the act of leaving, forever. Lipstick traces from the kiss of steel besmirch their otherwise unfathomable faces. “What the — ?!” is an expression repeated over and over, a symphony of surprise loss of forward momentum. Bang! It’s over. Not as grisly as you might expect and gorgeous in their own way, Kilpatrick’s shots are eerily reminiscent of WeeGee’s crime-scene photos from the same era. There’s a savage beauty to these mangled hulks of metal and flesh, a final “I told you so,” and then just the simple, quiet hiss of escaping steam and fluids and a soul or two.

This article appears in June 9 • 2000.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US