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I spent some time on the 4th of July as well as this past Saturday doing a little camera-equipped exploring. Here are the true keepers of those that I created. I'd really appreciate feedback on any or all. In particular, I'm considering using the hallway photo with the boxes of unused textbooks for this week's "Paths" competition, and feedback there would be especially helpful. Apologies for so many pictures. I've tried to pair my thoughts/introduction with the appropriate picture.
Some background: all but the "Norman Rockwell revisited" picture were taken at the (now abandoned) Paul Robeson Malcom X Academy in Detroit. I stumbled upon the school by chance, but was immediately drawn in by the 100+ year old architecture and clear evidence of fire damage. Walking through the school, you'd think it had been abandoned for years as many buildings here are. After doing some research, however, it turns out this school's only been empty for around a year and a half. There was a fire in May 2011, and they never returned. One of the most poignant reminders of this was a picture I took in a classroom with a small bookshelf full of spiral notebooks and workbooks with a wall decoration above it announcing that Anthony was the Student of the Day.
IMG_9627-Edit by josh.weiss, on Flickr
This picture was taken in the school's meeting room or prayer hall. I wanted to use the strewn benches/pews to lead the eye towards the piano, which remains there, covered in rubble and debris.
IMG_9361-Edit by josh.weiss, on Flickr
This is the picture I'd like to use for this week's Paths assignment. Boxes upon boxes of unused textbooks. It's both heart wrenching and infuriating at the same time.
IMG_9720-Edit by josh.weiss, on Flickr
Students materials, left one day, and never retrieved -- workbooks worksheets, pencils, highlighters, etc.
IMG_9334-Edit by josh.weiss, on Flickr
This one left me with a similar simmering resentment. An entire floor, piled inches high with textbooks. Ironically, the books along the left side are titled "Michigan: Adventures in Time and Place". Some adventure.
Nothing Lasts (Norman Rockwell revisited) by josh.weiss, on Flickr
This is a picture from a different school, one that was in the midst of being torn down. I'm particularly pleased with how this one came out. I named it as I did because the colors (and architectural era) remind me of a Norman Rockwell painting. Norman Rockwell revisited is intended as a double entendre: I'm revisiting NR stylistically, but it's also as if we've revisited the scene of a NR painting fifty years later.
And an impromptu self portrait, for grins and giggles:
Self portrait by josh.weiss, on Flickr
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