Abandoned Restaurant, Newberry Springs, California, 2006 photo

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty Three: Using light and color to define and contrast textures > Abandoned Restaurant, Newberry Springs, California, 2006

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11-FEB-2006

Abandoned Restaurant, Newberry Springs, California, 2006

Someone has placed old bottles and a dream-catcher in the window of an abandoned gas station on Route 66 in Newberry Springs, California. The subject of this picture is what is in the window. But it is the context for that subject that makes the image work as expression. And that context is based largely on textures. The rotting wood window frame and peeling wall, revealing an old coat of paint, are both rich in texture. They are redolent with age and time. It is texture, more than anything else that tells the story of abandonment here.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30
1/800s f/8.0 at 13.1mm iso80 hide exif

Full EXIF Info
Date/Time	11-Feb-2006 12:57:52
Make	Panasonic
Model	DMC-FZ30
Flash Used	No
Focal Length	13.1 mm
Exposure Time	1/800 sec
Aperture	f/8
ISO Equivalent	80
Exposure Bias	-1.00
White Balance	(10)
Metering Mode	multi spot (3)
JPEG Quality	(6)
Exposure Program	program (2)
Focus Distance	1.870 m

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Phil Douglis		17-Apr-2006 05:50
I have to agree on all points, Dave -- and I never notice that spider in the web until you pointed it out, either. Now that I know it's there, I can't take my eyes off it when I open this image.

Dave Wyman		12-Mar-2006 21:02
I think I'm with mia when it comes to geometry. For example, there are many right angles in nature - think of the Devil's Postpile, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which are giant blocks of granite, or on a smaller scale, salt crystals. So it's possible for geometric shapes or designs to represent both human-made and naturally created objects. Whether such angular shapes work in nature or not, they do for the way you have constructed this photograph. And while the texture of the photograph does tell the story of abandonment, surely there are some psychological underpinnings, perhaps unconscious, worth thinking about, in the "decorators" choice of a a dream-catcher as well as the old bottles. The real restaurant, when it was operational, is after all just a dream to anyone imagines or even remembers having a meal there. I happen to like the shadow, by the way, particularly the diagonal shadow, which I think leads the eye up to the window. For me, the visual perception of the dream catcher is as much shadow as substance, just as this photograph exisits both as a representation of what you saw, and independantly as a piece of art. And it took a few viewings of this photograph before something "caught" my eye: the spider in the dream catcher. I've not noticed it before, even though I've been to this place several times and looked directly at what's in - I just saw the fractal shape of the web.

Phil Douglis		19-Feb-2006 21:26
You probably feel a lot closer to geometry, Christine, than most of us. Being a high school student, you may be now taking, or have just taken, geometry in your math classes. (I studied geometry more than 50 years ago, so I must defer to your wisdom on this issue. I almost failed it, but ironically I now use geometry instinctively as the basis for all of my photos. Every image begins with a rectangle, right? ) Thanks for adding your perspective to this discussion -- while nature does produce geometric shapes, it does not attain the perfection that mankind pursues. (I think Mia would probably agree with you as well.)

Guest		19-Feb-2006 17:18
I agree with Phil. Geometry is a man made discipline. In nature one finds no perfect shapes. For example, the perfect circle is a man made invention. Though fruits, earth, etc. may seem round, there is always a little something that is not perfectly round. I can't even think of a near perfect square in nature. Christine

Phil Douglis		19-Feb-2006 02:09
Mia, you are right in some ways -- nature does indeed contain geometric shapes -- the earth itself is round the last time i checked. What I meant to imply is that geometry is a man made discipline. The shapes in that window were the work of man, not nature. The shapes on the wall, however, were the work of nature. (I see that you agreed with my point in your follow up comment, Mia. So we are in accord, afterall.)

Mia		19-Feb-2006 01:09
Phil, I will add something here. I think that in this specific picture the window and the dream catcher are man-made geometric figures. The paint was also man made, but the peeling paint shows what nature does over time to what man makes. This picture can be seen as the interaction nature-man. After all, we are part of nature. As you said below, everyone sees pictures differently...

Mia		18-Feb-2006 20:31
Phil, Allow me to disagree. Geometry, in my opinion is also and especially a symbol of nature - not the work of men. Think of all plants/flowers with regular features. Think of all the round fruits, the snowflakes with the most perfect geometrical shapes. Many books have been written demonstrating the geometry of nature, especially fractals. I do not say that everything is geometry - it is obviously not. Maybe we are not talking about the same thing.

Phil Douglis		18-Feb-2006 04:24
Thank you, Christine, for calling attention to the presence of geometry in this image. I intuitively responded to the presence of that diagonal shadow cutting across the horizontal and vertical lines in the window and bottles. You will also notice that a circle is present as well in the dreamcatcher. We have the essence of cubism on one side of the frame -- diagonal, rectangle, and circle, all superimposed upon each other. These are not the symbols of nature. Geometry is the work of man. Yet now look on the right hand side of the frame. A blotchy, random peeling of paint -- the work of nature and of time. In a way, it picks up on the function of the gathering diagonal shadow -- which also symbolizes the onrush of time. You have just opened a new window in my mind, Christine, and made me see this image in a fresh context. Thank you.

Guest		18-Feb-2006 04:12
I like the darkness on the lower lefthand corner because it allows us to pay more attention to the colourful bottles and the peeling paint. If it were not there, it would be more distracting. Also, the fact that the dark corner ends as a diagonal line, it is more graphically and esthetically pleasing, as a contrast to the straight vertical lines (window, bottles) and the horizontal line (lower part of the window). Christine

Phil Douglis		18-Feb-2006 02:32
Everyone sees pictures differently. I saw the darkness as the inexorable march of time as well. The shadow is like the face of a sundial, gradually consuming hours, days, months, and in this case, years. John sees the light as obscuring the subject, while Kal sees it as an essential part of the expression. There can be no right and no wrong approach. I happened to see it as Kal sees it, and that is why I chose to make this image as it appears here. Thank you both for your opposing viewpoint.

Kal Khogali		18-Feb-2006 01:29
I disagree with John..the shadow is what it is all about for me. The shadow as a metaphor for time consuming the window. The web shadow like cob webs..abandoned indeed. The modernity and lively colour of the bottles on the window ledge intrigues...K

John Reed		17-Feb-2006 23:07
I like your idea, but would have liked just a little less darkness in the lower lefthand corner. I don't think the obscuring dark shadow helps the presentation.

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