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Category Archives: America’s Past

O’Dells’ Trading Post

22 May

When Mister O’Dell opened up his “trading post” I suspect he did so using an old building that once had been a service (gas) station, given it’s design and location along a small highway in SW Virginia. I see that a lot around here…old gas stations having been converted to some other use…mostly short-lived…as is the case with O’Dells. I wondered exactly what it was that he “traded” and given what I saw laying about he got the worst of the deals he made. Another thing that caught my eye was the “friendly, welcoming” appearance of the place…noting the number of signs I saw. No matter, it made for a nice stop on one of my photo trips.

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Posted by on May 22, 2013 in America's Past, Photo Stories

 

Clutter…or not

20 May

As I travel around seeking to find photo-worthy (now that’s an interesting word, eh?) opportunities for my camera lens, I will start making photos in one location, only to find something different nearby which I had not earlier seen. That’s the case here with these two images. I had targeted an old house which had an interesting architectural style, when I noticed that behind the home there was an old storage shed that was, well, full of clutter. In fact, the shed was literally falling down…thus creating more clutter. People were still living in the home and I did not know if they were there as I was wandering around their property. Thankfully, they were not. There was such a contrast between the relatively nice looking home and the items in the back yard, that I wondered why they kept it that way. Maybe they figured no one would see the clutter…but I did, and I think it made for some interesting photography.

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Posted by on May 20, 2013 in America's Past, Photo Stories

 

Reflect on That

17 May

Positioning yourself with camera in hand, such that objects are reflected off water surfaces makes for an interesting photograph…even when simple subjects are concerned. These two photos were made along a canal path near an old cotton mill in North Carolina. The canal once brought water for use in the factory. Today, it serves as the central aspect along a nice walking path. I like the one with the bridge in the background best.

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Posted by on May 17, 2013 in America's Past, Landscape

 

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Still Hanging

15 May

I found an old building that had once been a gas station and is now vacant. However, there is still evidence that it was operating not too long ago…whether at a profit or not I do not know. The building itself was nothing special in terms of photographic impact, but there were a couple of items still hanging on the brick wall that caught my eye. Two of them are documented here. I take no responsibility for advertising smoking…I just liked the guy’s rugged face on the faded sign.

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Posted by on May 15, 2013 in America's Past, Close Up

 

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The Outhouse

12 May

Here in the United States this structure may be called “the outhouse”, or “privy.” And, although I have never heard it referred to as such, an “earth closet.” In New Zealand they are known as “long drops” and that’s a pretty good description. Definitions all courtesy of Wikipedia…which is never wrong. Anyway, on my photo trips I am always on the lookout for old, deserted structures. In the case of old homes, I sometimes wander around the outside of the main building seeing what I can see. If I am lucky, I’ll find an old privy, and if I am really lucky it will be leaning a bit, with door open, surrounded by dense vegetation. I got lucky here. I could have gotten closer and made additional images from different angles, but I noted that the vegetation was home to numerous ticks which I had no desire to visit. Imagine one heading outside to the family outhouse in the middle of the night in the summer given said ticks. Thank for Lord for indoor plumbing!

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Posted by on May 12, 2013 in America's Past

 

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Looking in…Looking Out

10 May

I am a “collector” of photographic images of old doors and windows. Wherever I travel about on photo trips I am always on the look out for anything unique in those categories. Here is one such image I made recently. Other than the colorful paint, the fact that the window shutters and frame appear to have been constructed long ago by hand, made the window stand out to me. Whenever I make such images, I wonder as I am “looking in” with my camera, whether or not a pair of eyes are “looking out” at me. Spooky in a way, and I sometimes imagine the wispy curtains moving slowly…thinking who knows what lurks behind. Whatever, I got a nice image!

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Posted by on May 10, 2013 in America's Past, Architecture

 

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American Textile Industry

03 May

I read today that only two percent of the clothing we wear in the United States today is made here. China, Vietnam and Bangladesh largely provide the rest. It’s not always been that way, and in fact as recently as the 1990s the American textile industry was vibrant and productive. Much of that industry was centered in North Carolina and Southern Virginia. For example, Dan River Mills in Danville, Virginia had the largest cotton mill in the world at one time. Today, these famous icons of American industry have been shuttered, and most of their plants either sit vacant or have been demolished. Below are two photos of Spray Cotton Mills in North Carolina which was closed in 2001 after 105 years of steady operation. What remains today may not be an asset to the community in which it is located, but to us photographers it’s a treasure just waiting for our inspection…and resultant images. As an aside, I think the vegetation growing on top of the tower in the first photo tells a story of “life after death.”

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Posted by on May 3, 2013 in America's Past

 

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Historic Building Architecture

01 May

Here are two examples of the sort of architectural details seen frequently in America early in the 20th Century…but hardly today. I found an old bank building which has now been converted into a community activity center, and even in that capacity it seems to be rarely used today. There were a couple of aspects of the building that caught my eye. First, the tall roman columns on the front of the building, capped by intricate scroll work as seen in the first photo below. The second was the flooring inside the building seen in the second photo. I assume that the separation between the octagonal ceramic tiles and the worn pine flooring was where the banks’s service counter once stood. I wonder how many customers waited in line at the location where I focused my camera, through the front window of the building. We certainly have an interesting past in the United States…if we’ll just look for it.

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Posted by on May 1, 2013 in America's Past, Architecture, Photo Stories

 

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Joe’s Place

26 Apr

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This is “Joe’s place. The sign in front reads “Joe’s Triangle” (it’s hard to make out the second word) and it’s impossible for me to determine what it once was, except for the fact it sits at a triangular intersection between two roads leading into the small town of Eden, North Carolina, a short distance from our home in SW Virginia. As I was making this photo and the ones below I was thinking about who Joe was and what he did here. Perhaps it was a bar, perhaps a small store selling who knows what, perhaps it was a barber shop, or perhaps it was just “Joes” home. One of the neatest things about photography is being able to imagine these sorts of thoughts about the scene you are photographing. This is especially true when deserted buildings are concerned, or when you see a faded-paint sign on the side of a farm building out in the middle of the country. Unfortunately, American has in many respects become too urbanized and we often fail to notice remnants from our history still standing, even if they are usually dilapidated and overgrown with wild vegetation. Joe’s is from a simpler time. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to be able to go back there and revisit places like this when they were in their prime.

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Posted by on April 26, 2013 in America's Past

 

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Evolution of the Automobile

20 Mar

All one need do is to look at the millions of junked cars sitting in unsightly lots and elsewhere in the United States to realize just how much the American automobile has evolved over the years…especially in design and excess use of chrome. I suppose the same will be written 20-30 years from now pertaining to what we see today on our roads and highways. But…the best part about all of this is that we have lots of excellent photo opportunities just waiting for our cameras.

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Posted by on March 20, 2013 in America's Past, Transportation

 
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