Given that the wall hangings were spare (the flags of America and Texas, sewn from tattered, recycled cloth), I also got the impression of looking at the set from some nonexistent play, an off-Broadway production depicting the greater context surrounding the title scene of ABC’s Roseanne or perhaps a musical about the World Series of Poker.
I’m not a photographer, but I think the lighting would make some dogs wearing poker-playing attire (sunglasses, hoodies, fedoras, and Texas Tech ballcaps) look pretty sweet. In my memory, the curtains and the lights glaring down on the table gave it this baroque cast.
The card game area at Bathtub Gin’s is really just a single table on the stage in the corner of the room, but the stage, about 10 square feet of wood flooring angling into the room in a pentagonal shape six inches off the floor, is sequestered by mood lighting and red theatrical curtains, gathered and hanging in loops from the ceiling.
Do you or someone you know own or have the ability to acquire five or six dogs of various breeds, all of which are trained well enough to sit still while a photographer recreates one of those “dogs playing poker” paintings? If so, have I got the shooting location for you!
