Thursday, November 03, 2011

The alleyway of potential doom


Free Parking
London, ON, May 2011
About this photo: It's Thematic's bricks and mortar week. What does this mean to you? Good question. Click here and all will be answered.
There's a certain something to an old, ignored alleyway that gets me every time. Sure, these places can be somewhat eerie and more than a little foreboding. Walking into one alone is probably not the smartest thing to do, yet that's what I'll often do if I'm in the right mood.

I think the risk, however small, is well worth it, because these places have a texture and a feel that just doesn't exist anywhere else. They represent the urban landscape at its best and its worst, often at the same time. They're usually completely silent, but there's ample evidence that this hasn't always been the case. I can close my eyes and imagine who painted the graffiti, and what these bricks would say if they could speak.

I haven't been beaten up yet, so I'm guessing there are more than a few such walkabouts in my near future.

Your turn: When taking pictures, do you ever go places you probably shouldn't go?

3 comments:

Dawn said...

Oh I do! And it's good for me because up until this camera obsession- I really wasn't much of a risk taker;)
The worst one for me was atop a mountain...looking down over a ledge of rock. But it just had to be done:D
I like your alley capture. If those alleys could talk....

Little Nell said...

I tend to play it safe. For some reason alleyways like this always feel threatening.

dennisthemennis.co.uk said...

Funny you should say that I always do and love it but recently I have moved to a new city and found myself in a very very dark place. A guy asked me what the f@@k I was doing there which made me think, yeah what am I doing here, turns out white people are not welcome there. I'm just glad I made it out. I keep getting the urge to go back. Crazy eh.