By 1879, Bodie in California boasted a population of about 10,000 and was second to none for wickedness, badmen and "the worst climate out of doors". One little girl, whose family was taking her to the remote and infamous town, wrote in her diary: "Goodbye God, I'm going to Bodie". This phrase came to be known throughout the west.
Killing in this town occured with monotonous regularity, almost daily events. Fire bell, which tolled the ages of the deceased when they were buried, rang often and long. Robberies, stage holdups and street fights provided variety. Reverent Warrington saw it in 1881 as "a sea of sin, lashed by tempests of lust and passion."
When I was there, the remnants of the evilness has not ceased. My partner felt the same, like a "weight of a heavy stone weighing on your chest". It was eerie and spine-chilling, walking through the ghost town and here are some images I gathered, some created to portray what I felt when I took the images, some showing dramatic beauty in what is left in this ghost town. Whichever the case, this is the perfect photography experience and since the color in this town is rather monotonous, most photographers like to capture these ghostly beauty in B&W.
Before I proceed, here's a link to all the images:
These two images are taken on the front door of a locked house, I can't see what's inside but could felt a slight cold breeze passing through the keyhole...
Entering one of the houses, dust settles on anything that is barred to enter. One can only speculate what it was like to eat on this table... (grains are added for dramatic effects...for those who think grain suck, how wrong you are)
It's no wonder that this town is now a ghost town...it is as if, God himself abandoned the very town and let all evil succumb it and made it self-destruct.
What's not to like about this town? I have never process images like I have with the images here. I spent over a week to process these so, please give me feedback on why you like some of these and why not others...
Wow, awesome series showing the character of this ghost town. It is hard to pick a favorite one, all are really good. Especially I love your through the window shots, very mysterious and the window cross works very good with the church in den bg. Well done. 'Twisted' has an excellent composition with the toppled down fence at the bottom of the picture leading you in a wonderful smooth, dynamic twist into the shot to the main object. Great work!
outstanding series! great textures, lighting, composition, duotones/grayscale, WOW factor. And an emotional impact on you and the area. You're a great writer as well. Love the photos, keep up the great work.
I completely agree. These are what, at some far far off day, I stive to get out of my own images.......and maybe someday........anyway amazing work. Excellent job with the processing I think you hit the colors and contrasts right on.
uh...guys...I'm not Tony. I'm Michael Soo. I guess I should remove the quotation from my signature. .
Thanks for the overwhelming responses. I'm completely swarmed today (kid photoshoot early in the morning till noon, follow by my real work, follow by indoor gymnastic shoot, follow by more post-processing). So, I'll respond to these when I'm done (prob tomorrow).
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