This was not my first choice, but its grown on me, as I consider the discarded suitcase as a symbol of the act of departure...perhaps of abandonment? After all, it was in an abandoned building...
Thank you for your consideration.
Jerry

nicely done Jerry, it has a very vintage feel to it too, that lends to the abandoned side of things. Well done.

Thanks, Travis, I appreciate that...

If that does not say abandonment nothing does. Nice shot.

excellent jerry I love the processing on this too, well done with a great subject.

Thanks, Norm, Mark; the sepia tones came from adding red and yellow to a B&W version in PS Elements...an experiment, at best...
Jerry

The suitcase with its odd assortment of paraphernalia and the mattress well worn adds a near Tennessee Williams effect.

Ye Gods! Another literary photographer!
I'll bet we're all renaissance men/women around here...

Thanks, Rick; I shot through a broken window, or I would have been tempted to "arrange" things, probably spoiling it in the process...
Jerry

This image works very well for me and I really like the toning you have added to the image.

Just for the fun of it, I'll tell the story of my first idea and post some not-good-enough for FM photos...

As soon as I saw this week's assignment, I thought of the "Sign Graveyard" out a little-used country road a few miles from the town near my home. I'd stumbled across this field about 20 years ago while exploring the Tennessee county to which I'd just relocated from Oregon. There, stacked haphazardly around the perimeter of a pasture were dozens of large and small plastic and glass business signs, the kind lighted from within and usually seen perched on poles or columns outside or atop a building...the sight was so incongruous, so bizarre, all these brightly colored manmade objects propped against each other amid the undergrowth slowly taking over a little-used cow pasture...

Over the years, the repository has grown, as one business or another either rebrands itself, or, regretfully, fails altogether. I've learned that the field is owned by a relative of the owner of a sign fabricating company, and the farmer leases the space to his relative...(it's a small town)...

So, I knew this would be the source of many eye-catching and unusual photographs, any of which could potentially sweep this week's WA voting - I mean, they could surpass any number of old pickup trucks out to pasture, and I (wrongly, so far) predicted several of those. So, I headed out there just as the sun rose, visualizing roaming the rows, perspective shots with the signs shrinking away from me, perhaps morning light imparting an inner glow to one...my mind was teeming with possibilities...only to be taken aback by the presence of an open gate and a truck, complete with a load of tobacco seedlings, sitting just inside the field.

Well, I regrouped, and realized I could actually get permission, rather than the furtive trespassing photography I'd expected. So I parked and approached...

He said, "Why?". I told him about the friendly competition, and as soon as I said "Internet", I could see the answer coming... He was reasonably nice about it, but he'd rather I didn't take pictures to post out there for the whole world to see...and, since we'd spoken, I no longer had the innocence of being caught trespassing and apologizing with assurances I'd meant no harm...

So, these were taken this afternoon from the road - fulfilling no artistic vision of mine, but illustrating the obvious possibilities...and, I have to admit, if there comes a WA of "sign graveyard", I'll probably take my chances, blacken my face, put on my ninja suit, and...
do it anyway...

Thanks for your indulgence; I can't make a long story short...

Jerry
PS - Fred, my original suitcase photo remains my entry, of course...don't want to confuse anyone...

Great story Jerry, too bad tou did not have full run of the place, looks like an abundance of good stuff with endless possibilities!

great shot jerry it fits the theme nicely.

Probably a few old stills there too , nice capture and story.

Norm