Waiting for delivery
San Francisco, CA, March 2007 [Click to enlarge]
Right around the same time I was doing mock battle with a couple of stuffed and mean-spirited professional sports mascots (see here for more), I was also taking some serene pictures of a facility that almost no one takes the time to appreciate.
The pier is the kind of place that seems as if it has always been old and worn. On this gloriously sunny afternoon, no one's outside and the place looks abandoned. I walk by at precisely the moment that the low-angled sun begins to move past the midline of the building. I can almost see the shadow creeping across the white doors, so I shoot fast before everything descends into the shade.
It is lonely and sad. But I could look at it for a while. Which I do, as I lean against a fencepost and settle in for a few minutes of silent reflection as the shadow completes its brief journey. I wonder if I'm the only person in this pier's long history who's done this.
Your turn: Reflecting on a bygone relic. Please discuss.
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10 comments:
I always imagine what such places would look like with hustle and bustle. A different day. I love this image and the tones of black and white suit it quite nicely Carmi.
When I look at old, abandoned houses, I always wonder who lived there and what they did for a living and how many kids they had and if they got to go to college, and on and on and on.....
I used to love to roam through old houses in the Nebraska country side - back when I was a LOT younger you could always find old abandoned farm houses with scads of treasures and I recall wondering what the lives of the past inhabitants were like.
Good muse!
abandoned places always catch my fancy...this pic looks great in monochrome..
Well, it's only taken a couple of months.... but I finally made it over here to say hello, and many thanks for stopping by my blog so long ago.
I've voyaged over here several times to see your pictures, and read your posts.... but never left a comment before. My bad. You are gifted with your photography, and I enjoy your subjects of contrasts and still life. It seems fitting I should tell you so finally. I will be over more often, and plan to link you to my sidebar so that I don't forget.
My favorite relic is much smaller than this. My dad has a coal miner's helmet, belonged to his grandfather. It's pretty banged up, but it still smells like earth. My Dad says he used to watch his grandpa and then his dad walk down the street at the end of the day, settle on the front porch and eat a lemon, whole. I can't imagine, but apparently it's the only thing that cut the coal dust out of their mouths and throats.
By-gone relics... our city is filled with historical relics that need some tlc... you can't help but look at them and envision their heyday.
Nice tones in the photo.
~S
I would like to hear the stories that dock and building can tell. Glad you got a chance to watch part of the story for a few minutes time.
great photo! you captured that lonely and abandoned feel of the pier. like anna said, it would be really neat to see photos of this place when it was in its prime. that's how i always imagine places, too.
Puts me in mind of some pictures I took on my last visit to the French Quarter (pre-Katrina). The shots were of the full-length shutters than cover the doors and windows of the businesses on Bourbon Street. It was early morning, everything was shut up tight, and the sun was just starting to rise. I was struck by the stark contrast between that same scene in early morning (virtually abandoned) vs. late at night (bustling with wall-to-wall people). I stood and watched in wonder as the sun crept across the shutters and slowly but surely the street and sidewalk traffic picked up and the whole scene came to life.
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