To some, abandoned structures or places are an eyesore. They are a place people wish would be torn down to soon be replaced by a more modern building. I can agree to an extent. If it is full of harmful materials and leeching poisons into the earth then I would agree that it should probably be removed. Even in that scenario I feel we should honor the place with one last photo shoot. Capturing history no matter what condition it is in is something I feel is very important. As decades go by and old architecture fades away it is easy to forget what life was like in the past.
The house in the photo above is a place I had driven past 100s of times in my life. It had been vacant for decades. As each year passed it would slowly loose a window, or a shingle. A bush would be a few feet taller. The siding would be degraded more. Even thru the changes you could still see the character of the home. You could daydream of what it may have been like in its prime. This was built with the hands of skilled carpenters. It had more than one fireplace and more than one water well. I would assume this was a rich persons house for the era it was built in. It was built on a large farm right off US68 in Brown County Ohio. This county isn't known for money but we are also speaking of a different time. Technology and the city hadn't yet stripped away rural living.
The magic of capturing forgotten places is the way they make you feel when you look at a good capture. Even if it is for 15 seconds that your imagination creates a story based on what you are looking at......well....that is 15 seconds of a creative mind that isn't caught in the cycle of scrolling thru a social media screen. It is 15 seconds of contemplating on things you may never see again. It is giving a few seconds of appreciation to the creation and life of those before us. Everything starts as nothing and ends of nothing in time. Some just reach that point way too soon. Sadly, this house was demolished in December of 2019. Rumors are that the owner didn't want anyone else to own it after her passing and it was in her will to have it torn down upon her passing. I don't know the reason behind this or if it is even fully true. Regardless, we still have images to look at and contemplate what it was like on a warm summer day. Who was in the yard? What was being done on the porch?
Take a moment to look at this house and create a story of your own. No one else can see what you see and that is the beauty of photography. Hopefully you have expanded your thoughts a bit and even if you don't fully get why some of us shoot abandoned places, you can at least feel the vibe of the story in your mind.
KP
Comments