Forlorn Dwelling

[BobDavid]

along s 96th

[dlcox]

It is fading away in plain sight.  You can hardly see it and you can hardy miss it.

I like the sense of place the trees, fence and little bit of roadway give it, even without your caption.

Good use of white.

Bruce 
on DL's machine

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

along s 96th

It's a little large, but otherwise similar to what my grandfather always referred to as a "Modest West Virginia Residence."

[Rob C]

It's a little large, but otherwise similar to what my grandfather always referred to as a "Modest West Virginia Residence."

Reminds elf the recent Chuck Berry link I offered the clicking world, where he goes - as well as I can do it:

My grandpa drove a horse and buggy
My dad he took a train
I worked and drove a Cadillac
My son he drives a plane...

Better sequence than my own, then, but as I can neither sing nor play, what can either of us expect?

Rob

[RSL]

You're doing what I used to love to do, Bob, in Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Texas. I was lucky enough to catch THESE shots before the wind passed over them and they were gone and the places thereof knew them no more.

[Rob C]

You're doing what I used to love to do, Bob, in Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Texas. I was lucky enough to catch THESE shots before the wind passed over them and they were gone and the places thereof knew them no more.

That's a beautiful series, Russ.

I get the impression of things quickly built on spec, to make the most of opportunity - as I imagine must have followed Route 66 - then left to rot as rapidly along with the hopes and promises that caused the dreams in the first place. I do not get the sense of anything having been planned with permanency, a longish life in mind. Which might, in realty, simply reflect the building techniques and materials where money was in short supply. This makes it feel different to dead coal mining areas and post-industrial parts of the landscape where bricks were used...

[RSL]

You're right, Rob. There never was much intention toward permanency in the agricultural west. I'm in the (perhaps) fortunate position of being old enough to remember the U.S. west when it was still a going concern. I traveled a couple times in the mid thirties back and forth with my folks when they drove Route 66 from Michigan to Arizona to visit long-time friends, and I actually lived in Buckeye, Arizona for a year in 1938, when I was eight. I drove it again from the South in 1956 when I was involved in an Air Force rocket meet at Yuma, Arizona. And I drove Route 66 many times back and forth to Phoenix from its junction with interstate 25's predecessor in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I remember driving completed segments of I-40 when it was gradually superceding Route 66 and being able to look off to my left and see segments of the old highway, abandoned and falling into ruin. Finally, in the late sixties I wrote Voices on the Prairie to help me hang on to some of the memories of the rapidly changing west. It all had to change, but I can't help feeling nostalgia for what it used to be -- probably because I keep getting older.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

That is a great series, Russ. Thanks for sharing them.

Eric

[BobDavid]

Dang! That's a great set of photos, Russ. You've got enough material for a book. Your eye for black and white really shows.

[RSL]

Thanks all. And Bob, I didn't mean to steal your thread.

[BobDavid]

Thanks all. And Bob, I didn't mean to steal your thread.

Oh, it didn't cross my mind that you stole  my thread. I think your work puts mine into a "historical" context.  In my opinion, when an accomplished photographer shares work that's germane to one of my posts, it opens the door to insights. ... I'm fascinated with the work you did as a resident of CO.