Once Booming
Information about this photo
Histogram
EXIF data
| CAMERA: | NIKON D200 |
|---|---|
| ISO: | 400 |
| Shutter: | 1/40 sec |
| Focal length: | 35 mm |
| Aperture: | f 5 |
Description
Tucked away in the nearly-abandoned industrial park off Coombs St. (that I refer to as the nearly-abandoned industrial park off Coombs St) in Fort Wayne, Indiana is this relic of a loading dock, now piled with rubbish. Inside this building, the roof is collapsing in several places.
29 Comments on "Once Booming"
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think River City Sports and Pembleton Electronics are just about the only remaining tenants back there, and they're in a decent building.
What I really like about the place is the contrast. That ground-zero looking photo of yours, I believe, is the view you get when looking up from Mike's well manicured sand courts.
Kevin, this (and the next photo) are my digital variations of "bleaching", a popular darkroom technique. Depending on the subject, it can leave the photo looking cold and lonely, and effect I particularly like.
I'm still working on a way to overlay the original, raw, unprocessed images across the showcased ones on this site. I had a crude way of doing it, but it still needs a lot of work.
Over the winter I'll have to get some of the history out about the property. The landlord (Dave Anglin) showed me some pictures when it was all booming back there... when it was Wayne Pump, the largest gas pump manufacturer in the world. He says he has some love letters from the military back in WW2 written specifically to the company there and it's help in the war effort.
Actually there are several tenants on the property... some that I didn't even know existed myself until the landlord finally got it ok'd to put a sign at the entrance. Two of the more significant ones right now that aren't on the sign are Lentz Trucking, who have all the big machinery back there (that was used to put in the two new courts) and Fair Play Beach Volleyball.
Pembleton (now Misener) Electronics has moved out onto Coombs St (where a grocery used to be) and that works for me. There's also a vending company, as well as Neukin... a young bright guy works wonders with turbo engines.
One of the artists (Cassandra) who has worked with me did the header shot on my blog with a different bleak looking building in the background.
Thanks...
One of my ideas is to have a kind of logo, for the River City Sports and Entertainment Complex, that takes the former munitions building, which is the one that has the most broken windows and is the most beaten up, and morph it from the left into the staggering Roman Coliseum. That might be kind of amusing. An art deco sign of this "logo" might look good attached to the brick building at the entrance, and with a reference below the logo that this is the former site of Wayne Pump.
I didn't realize the immediate area was still that active :-)
Some of these buildings would be a joy to tour/photograph at some point.
The landlord is supposed to run me through sometime so I can shoot some shots to show rental spaces. I can contact you if I have an appointment sometime to do that. Even though the shots you might take could be construed as not flattering I think it ultimately reveals a slow cleanup process of a site with some history. Though factories all throughout the nation were geared toward the war effort during WW2 I think there's an edge of significance here.
Great job.
I remember back in the 90's there was an indoor junkyard there (Acar auto parts) There was a paintball field not in the building but the grass field next to it, and then at the end of the road (Coombs street?) there was another junkyard.
that's pretty much my obsession at the moment...
Your comment was really encouraging; thank you so much. I've always felt that good photography evokes emotion in the viewer, so your comment was especially encouraging.
Alex,
I have never taken the opportunity to photograph much in Auburn. I might just have to go up there now! I don't currently have any photography that includes graffiti, except for some stuff I took for work a while back. Looks like I'll need to get some =) Thanks!
and i was wondering if you remember me?
do u remember Mike Mazur?
i'm his grandaughter.. umm i'm the one that was/ still is in love with you. hahah hope ya get a laugh outta that one...
yeah auburn has many places like that. there is one near the auburn pool that looks like this one in the pic.
I think ths photo does a wonderful job evokeing the emotion people felt when these places began to fold up and pull out and what was left behind.... Another Wonderful photo.