Within the Depths of Silence and Phormations

schmoo

The title is actually the name of an album by a very obscure ambient artist, Raison D'Etre. When I was in college I would wander down to the underground music store and one trip I picked it out because of the cover. It displayed the grainy, monochrome ruins of a magnificent church, possibly shot during WWI using the barest essentials of photography. It make syou think of stark contrast, sadness, and silent movies.

Even though it took a few more years to fully embrace it, I knew from that moment that I had an addiction for the broken and forgotten. There's really nothing at all compared to seeing a modern wasteland with your own eyes. Even if war is not the tip of the hand in the circumstance, the complexity of a simple shell of a building becomes something else entirely when you first walk through the door. Who lives there? Who did this? How many footprints walked here before mine? Who would have done such a thing, and is there any malice or discontent due to the destruction of so many livelihoods?

I've been out of this loop for a good long while, technically years. But as I sit on my hands, I realize that life is just too short. Largely a scouting mission I only grabbed a few usable shots, but we'll be back. There aren't enough pockets of time like this in CA that I have found just yet, and seeing this little jewel was almost like being home again in the Rust Belt.

Pendulum Array


The Disconnect


Time, Fettered


Ever Downwards


While the structure sleeps, the wind is awake. Metal buildings do breathe and you can see the stirring motes of dust in the morning sun beams. The walls twist and curl in storms, clanging and slapping into the bluest sky. While you're alone, the building keeps you guessing. Am I alone? What was that? But after a while you learn that nature's chorus is nearly always random and humans rarely are.

I peered into these vats from the catwalk and was surprised to see what I thought at first was a sea of mercury:

Undulation
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There's lots more to see from this place, but not from that morning. More to come, I hope.

(The 24m TS is officially my favorite lens ever. I can't speak highly enough about this thing :thumb )

CWSkopec

Great series, Schmoo! And an excellent narative to go with it!

I've search in vain to find similar sites down here in San Diego and I just don't think it'll happen... This coast just can't hold its own in comparision to the Rust Belt, but San Diego beats Buffalo, NY in all other regards, so I think I'll stay!

thapamd

Really nice, Schmoo! The video is mesmerizing and the photos are first class!

schmoo

CWSkopec wrote:

Great series, Schmoo! And an excellent narative to go with it!

I've search in vain to find similar sites down here in San Diego and I just don't think it'll happen... This coast just can't hold its own in comparision to the Rust Belt, but San Diego beats Buffalo, NY in all other regards, so I think I'll stay!

Thanks guys! Hey Chris, I'm still doing my research whenever I can around CA and while I have no help for San Diego, it's always worth keeping your eyes peeled if you're driving around. I had no hopes of finding a big industrial building out here (my favorite type) but lo and behold! There it was.

I have been to Buffalo many times in my life, but oddly never for exploring. And that part of the country is absolutely legendary for this kind of stuff. If you ever go back...

Things get renovated or demolished very quickly out west, I see, so I think you need to act fast. But don't lose hope. I guess that's what photography is all about, right? Being ready and learning to be prepared for the right opportunity.

CWSkopec

schmoo wrote:

I have been to Buffalo many times in my life,

I'm sorry!

Just kidding... I enjoyed my time in Buffalo for the most part, but after a living in central and western New York for 26 years, I'd had enough of that thing called SNOW!!

From what I remember there are a ton of great sites like this to explore, sadly while I was there I just didn't have the urge (or a camera)... maybe for my next visit I'll be able to schedule some time to get to a couple spots...

Jet

Excellent series - I like your style
What was the 'sea of mercury' - spiderwebs?

wfeller

These are great! Scouting is fun, especially, at least to me, if you have no idea what it is you are exploring. It does wonderful things for the imagination. Who knows, that orphanage for mutants may actually have been an orphanage for mutants- or a fast food joint.

-

Marc Muench

So good to see you found some rust schmoo:D

we would not want rust on your 24mm T/S

Benjer

Schmoo -

i LOVE "undulation" ! Fantastic! "Disconnect" is also wall-worthy.

schmoo

Thanks guys, and of course Marc, I would never want Ye Olde TS to get rusty. :uhoh However we saw a barn owl trapped in a room, and it doesn't make a very good wildlife lens, that's for sure.

Jet wrote:

What was the 'sea of mercury' - spiderwebs?

You got it! A very very fine layer of spiderwebs studded with small feathers. If I'd felt like changing lenses, it probably would have been much better with a bit more zoom, but oh well.

dseidman

This is a really cool series and you have great conversions on all of these!