I recently visited my best friend and his family in the Midwest, a trip I make a few times each year. He lives in Kankakee, Illinois, and during my last two visits we took a drive about an hour east to Gary, Indiana. In downtown Gary there's a massive abandoned church, a hauntingly beautiful reminder of the city’s decline. Much of downtown Gary is abandoned, a consequence of the challenges faced by the U.S. steel industry in the 1970s. Many buildings have fallen into disrepair and some, like this church, are entirely abandoned.
I’ve had the opportunity to take portraits in this church twice now—once for a friend’s band (I'll try sharing those when I have a few more shots ready) and this time for some portraits of my best friend and his brother, who are like family to me.
For these shots, I used a Canon 5D Mark III with a Canon EF 35mm f/2 lens and a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens. All were lit using natural light.
Yes I remember Gary very well when traveling from Iowa to Maryland.
Smoke stacks galore and belching the steel industry into the air! Progress.....Now it is demise! What a shame!!
Danpbphoto wrote:
Yes I remember Gary very well when traveling from Iowa to Maryland.
Smoke stacks galore and belching the steel industry into the air! Progress.....Now it is demise! What a shame!!
Great images Daniel!
Dan
Thank you Dan.
It's sad to see the eerie state the city is in. I've never seen anything like it.
It's sad to see the eerie state the city is in. I've never seen anything like it.
Pittsburgh is about the same Daniel.
Here in Baltimore, the olde Beth Steel Sparrows Point plant that did ship refurbishing, steel fabrication, smelting is now just a relic!
Sad state of affairs!
Dan
Danpbphoto wrote:
Pittsburgh is about the same Daniel.
Here in Baltimore, the olde Beth Steel Sparrows Point plant that did ship refurbishing, steel fabrication, smelting is now just a relic!
Sad state of affairs!
Dan
I see that cities like Detroit are starting to make a comeback, but I doubt that would be in the works for Gary unless the majority of the downtown area is demolished.
DanielScott wrote:
I see that cities like Detroit are starting to make a comeback, but I doubt that would be in the works for Gary unless the majority of the downtown area is demolished.
Yes you are correct Daniel! Lots of jobs lost, lots of economy lost to "ship" off the steel industry to Japan for a better price! But in the long run it cost the steel producers and customers waaaay more money with export/import taxes, which cause the prices to rise, and any tariffs put on the suppliers adds to the cost also. And it cost us MORE than if we produced it right here!
I only real losers are the citizens of Gary, Pittsburgh, Baltimore...Lost jobs, lost revenue and vacant downtowns!
Danpbphoto wrote:
Yes you are correct Daniel! Lots of jobs lost, lost of economy lost to "ship" off the steel industry to Japan for a better price! But in the long run it cost the steel producers and customers waaaay more money with export/import taxes, which cause the prices to rise, and any tariffs put on the suppliers adds to the cost also.
I only real loser is the citizens of Gary, Pittsburgh, Baltimore...Lost jobs, lost revenue and vacant downtowns!
Not gud economics 101!!!
Stay safe brother!
Dan
Maybe one day we'll see things turn around and get better.
A couple more from this session. To clarify, my friends ask me to take shirtless photos of them, though I am hardly complaining. They tell me that my photos have done a lot to improve their self esteem, to which I am very happy to contribute to.
Nice set of photos! This reminds me of the church that was turned into a community skatepark while still maintaining the integrity of the skeleton of the building. Unfortunately it burned some time ago. Would be cool to see a project like that with this church!
seanderson wrote:
Nice set of photos! This reminds me of the church that was turned into a community skatepark while still maintaining the integrity of the skeleton of the building. Unfortunately it burned some time ago. Would be cool to see a project like that with this church!
That's a shame. As a skater myself I would have loved to see that. It would be pretty cool to see that church become a skate park, but sadly I don't think it would happen. So much of the entire city is in ruin, and that church looks like it could collapse at any moment to be honest.
But in the long run it cost the steel producers and customers waaaay more money with export/import taxes, which cause the prices to rise, and any tariffs put on the suppliers adds to the cost also. And it cost us MORE than if we produced it right here!
