JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Kirk Carter sets up his "Signs of Dysfunction" exhibit — which features broken, abandoned and redacted signs — at Mish Mish in Blacksburg.

JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Kirk Carter's book, "Signs of Dysfunction," accompanies his photography exhibit at Mish Mish in Blacksburg.

| Amy Matzke-Fawcett

amy.matzke-fawcett@roanoke.com, 381-1674

BLACKSBURG -- "Parking for Daddy's money. Violators will be towed and crushed."

The sign, written over and faded, is one documented in photographer Kirk Carter's exhibit of broken, abandoned and redacted signs in "Signs of Dysfunction" at Mish Mish in Blacksburg.

Carter said he's always paid attention to signs, especially those that are blank or missing parts.

"In some cases, the signs are screaming something completely different than what it's supposed to say," he said.

"Signs of Dysfunction" is his first solo exhibit, and his book of the same name, published in September, also is his first.

Carter likes to take photos of things that others wouldn't necessarily notice, the sides of rusty trains and, of course, broken signs, he said.

"What I like to do is observe carefully, and when you look at a photo, I want you to see what I saw," Carter said.

"It's like a complicated way of saying, 'Hey, look at this.' "

Carter's work captures the beauty in the state of things falling apart, said Steven White, a sketch artist and amateur photographer who attended Carter's opening Friday night at Mish Mish.

"What draws me to Kirk's work is the whole idea of entropy, or the state of things falling apart," White said. "When things are rusty, or the paint cracks, it naturally shows how the colors work together."

White, a New River Valley native, said he remembers seeing many of the signs, both in their heyday and in the broken state they're shown in the book.

Although Carter has been a hobby photographer since 1975, he didn't become serious until a few years ago when digital camera technology took off.

He worked on the book through the fall of 2008 and early 2009, capturing 74 dysfunctional signs around Southwest Virginia.

Even though Carter is spending more time with his photography, he said that he doesn't plan to leave the business world for the art world. He operates Service First Webmasters, a custom Web site design company, something he says goes hand in hand with photography.

"Signs have to say clearly what you want them to say, and so do Web sites," Carter said.