Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Poof. She's Gone.

This tale has 3 acts.

Act 1  November 2010  Was on the way back from a drive to Youngsville, North Carolina when, as I often do, I decided to pull over and take a few shots of an interesting old building. I knew little about it other than the fact that it had been used as a Friday night auction house for many years. I did not expect to capture much in the way of good photography as it was in the early afternoon on a bright sunny day when the shadows are long and contrast is overbearing. And besides, I had someone waiting in the car who had already let me know they would prefer to be making their way home to lunch. So I did not expect much, other than a few snap shots that might give me some ideas for a good photo project later on. And though they did indeed serve as proof of a worthy project "someday," snapshots are exactly what I got for my 5 minute investment.

















Act 2 March 29,2010-Spent the afternoon perusing a fascinating book called OurVanishing Americana: A North Carolina Portrait.  Over a period of about 3 years, author Mike Lassiter visited virtually every town in North Carolina to research and photograph as many old timey soda fountains, general stores, and esso gas stations that were still standing, making almost all of his trips by car on weekends. Naturally he could only do 2 or 3 examples from each town. He closed the book with an appeal for others whom his project had touched to join him in the quest to get even more of our heritage documented. I immediately thought of the auction house near Youngsville and my need to get back to it for some quality photos.

Act 3 May 2 2011  Had an appointment near Youngsville, so I thought this would at last be that opportunity I had been looking for to do the Auction House Shoot.  Wrong. You've heard the saying, "A day late and a dollar short", I'm sure.  What I actually got to photograph was a salvage crew cleaning up what was left of the place, after the demolition squad got through. Another piece of Americana gone, gone, gone.

























http://www.amazon.com/Our-Vanishing-Americana-Carolina-Portrait/dp/097046519X

2 comments:

  1. Gee, this somehow looks familiar! You scooped me in my own backyard! I should have done these! High five!

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  2. Thank you. Never thought of it as a scoop,though you are the one who first called my attention to this awesome building. You are a true sport and you don't miss much in your neck of the woods, so I accept your compliment with humble pleasure.

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