The place is deserted, like before, but my visit doesn't go unnoticed by passersby on 240 and somebody honks. Prudence urges me inside, away from curious eyes. The place feels different from the last time because today I am alone and the wind is making the doors creak open and slam closed on their own. There are two of them on both sides of me and I feel surrounded by ghosts.
Outside, a strip of metal dances in the wind near the roof and I think maybe somebody is up there. To my left, a wall of glassless window frames remain closed, save the last two that stand open for no reason.
Not far in the distance a child screams and sounds eerily like a coyote that has corned its prey and I begin to wonder why I came here. My head is telling my feet to beat it outta here double quick time but my feet know better.
I clear my head and remind myself that I love these old places. That they don't scare me. That I am here to record the beauty they have to offer as best I can. I grab my camera, attach the Lensbaby, and begin to shoot.
These distorted color and black and white photographs mimic my mood.
7 comments:
Hey,
It's 'jusajus' from flickr. I love your work. Your early work with the wildlife was just awesome. And your recent work has just been phenomenal. I haven't been updating my page because I've been focusing on making money from stockphotography.
Keep up the great work!
Gotta love that Lensbaby, right? I hate the fact that the images aren't here as I type--I can't remember everything I've just looked at. I really love the color. I don't know if it's just because that is the way I'm leaning right now or what, but I feel it adds a nice dimension to the old structure. There are a lot of people out there taking photos of worn out places. It's sort of like nudes--tough to make something we haven't felt we've seen to the point of boredom. Which is not to say I don't like the B&W--I really LOVE the first one for the line, shape and light, and also the view out the window with the light cast onto it's interior from another window. It reminds me of a Friedlander image I've seen. Frame within a frame. Very nice. What I like most about the color images is, first of all, they're unusual with the strong isolated chunks of color within a single image, then on top of that, you have the line, and the age of the building. My guess is that the color would also be more marketable right now as that seems to be the trend. Really nice images. Isn't it a wonder finding out that you are allowed to make photographs like this?
Ya know, that probably doesn't come across right. What I mean by being "allowed to make photographs like this" is, I was stunned when I found out I could do it, as though I hadn't the right to before. Or simply didn't know about it?? Don't know. It just amazed me when I started to make photographs which could hold their own against others and which I liked. That's about the time that I realized I had the right to call myself a photographer.
Yeah, it was pretty weird seeing this pix coming from my camera all right. I take so many and like so few and I am getting over that. I understand that is what most, if not all, photographers go through.
It is pretty heady stuff calling yourself by the name of your chosen craft. I never could do it with writing but with photography it's easier. Feels more natural. Not like a lie, like it did with writing.
Hello Justin! So great to see you here. I was just thinking about you the other day when I was out taking pix in the desert and was wondering if you where you had gone off to. I am really glad to here that you are still taking pix. Havent had a chance yet to click on your name to see your blog but will do that right now!
Thank you for the wonderful compliments! Hope you stop by often so we can chat and keep up with each other.
No problem. You're work has always been great but after you took classes it got injected with awesomeness LOL.
My lil blog isn't much. Like it states it's just for me to keep track of my progress.
Thank you so much for the fantastic compliment Justin! And Im really glad you have your blog because now we can keep in touch here.
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