I took the photo of the chairs below a couple of years ago. They belong to a grocer that’s located on the first floor of my office building. If I recall correctly, it was a cold, rainy day in mid-October.

The image must have seeped into my subconscious because a week later, I woke from a dream about a hot air balloon with this photo stuck in mind. After hurrying down to my computer, I attempted to capture what I’d seen in R.E.M.

Working quickly, I soon found a way to incorporate the vivid visual aspects of the chairs into a multi-colored balloon. But as you can see, it took a little more work before the initial image became what appears in both the film and book.