Old things

[OC]

I've developed a new interest over the last few years. It started with what I call "urban artifacts" - abandoned buildings, exposed and empty basements where buildings used to be, curbs with driveway dips even though the driveway is no longer there, abandonded train terminals, that kind of thing. The interest grew to include rural artifacts too. Falling down barns, old vehicles in fields.

If these walls could talk - that's the sentiment I experience when I look at artifacts like that. Who used to live here? What were they like? Who owned that truck? Why did they stop using that tractor?

It's such a sense of history, but also a sense of something lost because it's history I'll never know. It makes me a little sad, but it also reminds me that everyone has a story, everyone has their own unique experiences, and everyone has reasons for doing what they do. I think those are important things to keep in mind in our daily lives.

Some links for your viewing pleasure:

http://siologen.net/pbase/thumbnails.php?album=9
http://www.opacity.us/main.php

Here's a collection of old pictures that were only recently developed, which means the photographers and the people in the photos never got to see them. Talk about something lost.

http://westfordcomp.com/updated/found.htm

Photographs freeze fleeting moments in time. Nowhere is this more evident than with photos of people. You set up your subjects and trip the shutter. A second later your composition falls apart like a house of cards and people head on to the future.

[cadetevon]

I'm totally enjoying the photos at the westfordcomp.com site.

Is this your site, your photos (now) and your comentary?

I bookmarked it so I can go back again and again.

[OC]

Nope, not my site. I found it on BoingBoing (http://www.boingboing.net) this morning.

This collection (http://westfordcomp.com/foundfilm/argusa/index1.htm) is amazing.

[nickel]

I've developed a new interest over the last few years. It started with what I call "urban artifacts" - abandoned buildings, exposed and empty basements where buildings used to be, curbs with driveway dips even though the driveway is no longer there, abandonded train terminals, that kind of thing. The interest grew to include rural artifacts too. Falling down barns, old vehicles in fields.

If these walls could talk - that's the sentiment I experience when I look at artifacts like that. Who used to live here? What were they like? Who owned that truck? Why did they stop using that tractor?

It's such a sense of history, but also a sense of something lost because it's history I'll never know. It makes me a little sad, but it also reminds me that everyone has a story, everyone has their own unique experiences, and everyone has reasons for doing what they do. I think those are important things to keep in mind in our daily lives.

Some links for your viewing pleasure:

http://siologen.net/pbase/thumbnails.php?album=9
http://www.opacity.us/main.php

Here's a collection of old pictures that were only recently developed, which means the photographers and the people in the photos never got to see them. Talk about something lost.

http://westfordcomp.com/updated/found.htm

Photographs freeze fleeting moments in time. Nowhere is this more evident than with photos of people. You set up your subjects and trip the shutter. A second later your composition falls apart like a house of cards and people head on to the future.
we share those sentiments OC. :)
sometimes when i see certain things i wish i could go back in time and see who lived in that old abandoned house. what was that place like in its heyday that now is in shambles?
i like to browse antique shoppes and imagine things like the big Sunday dinners and families gathered around to eat off the fancy china they are now selling.
i actually have in my possession a lot of antiques for the reason that they make me appreciate what i have, and where we've come from.

[cadetevon]

I have no spent less than 3 hours on this guys site. :)

[Grimm]

I have found that old people are much more interesting than old buildings. When is the last time you sat down and talked to an octogenarian? They have seen a lot and can tell you about it much more easily than an old building. And by listening you know that their stories don't fade away.