It has been 7 years since I put together “Industria” for my gallery show at Viewpoint Photographic Art Center in Sacramento. Since that show I have continued to travel with my large format view camera, capturing photos of abandoned places. In putting together my latest portfolio submission I have included photos from my trips to Belgium, Germany, Pennsylvania and Colorado. I have chosen to focus on the machinery in these wonderful places, trying to explore relationships and similarities to form a cohesive body of work.
Völklingen Ironworks, Volklingen, Germany
This Unesco heritage site has been on my bucket list for 10 years or so. I was able to visit in June 2019, I spent 3 total days here, although at least 1 of those days I dedicated to shooting with my 360 degree camera. I find it preferable to separate shooting black and white with my view camera from other work. The site is huge, and parts of it aren’t even open to the public. I was ambivalent towards the graffiti art that was featured at the ironworks, I chose to not include any of it in my photos. I did appreciate the open attitude towards art making, I did not get any push back from shooting on a tripod or wandering the grounds all day long. Overall, very exhilarating, and exhausting couple days!
Carrie Furnace, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
I have shot at the Carrie Furnace at least 3 times over the last several years. The site is open to guided tours, but thankfully they do have semi-regular “photo safaris” where photographers can shoot throughout the site for several hours. This is such a great opportunity and I am super grateful that the foundation in charge of operating Carrie allows this. Shooting with a view camera is a bit of a slow process (although I’m told I’m faster than most) that is just not possible in some situations. This blst furnace is really the last of it’s kind, I’m not aware of any other furnace in the United States that has not been demolished.
San Juan County Historical Society of Silverton, Colorado
Perhaps the most fortuitous shooting opportunity happened in Silverton Colorado. I was completing a four wheel drive tour of the area when I noticed a sign at the side of the road heralding a mine tour. I pulled into the driveway, but the gate was closed, saying they would open in an hour. I continued on to Silverton to grab breakfast, and was tempted to continue on, but something was nagging me to go back and check out the tour. I drove back out, the gate was opened, so I continue to the gift store. I nice man and woman were there, I explained I was a photographer, and tried to explain my unusual requirements. They didn’t seem phased, I paid the small fee and started exploring. It turned out they were closing down for the winter that morning so my timing couldn’t have been more fortuitous. I got a number of great shots included in this portfolio.
Charleroi, Belgium
My trip to Belgium was perhaps the most disappointing of my European trips. There are some magnificent structures in and around Charleroi, I was just not able to get access to the most impressive. I did spend some time shooting some abandoned areas, but they were mostly stripped of the heavy machinery that I crave. I did include an interesting shot of an abandoned control room, looking at the photo I can only imagine what it would have looked like a few years earlier. It’s a reminder that these historical sites are being destroyed every day, time is of the essence to capture them before it is too late.