Abandoned

Film 6 X 6 Kodak Portra 160VC Below:















I’ve been itching to get out and do some photography of my own lately.

I remember coming back from a photo shoot in Tucson when we passed an interesting area about a half mile long. It’s on I-10, east of Eloy, AZ.

It’s very close to the road so you can’t miss it. All the buildings are abandoned awaiting demolition and redevelopment. Since we were on our way home, I thought I'd come back when I could.

A few weeks went buy when I finally took the afternoon off and drove down there. It’s 45 minutes south of here on the freeway, so not so bad for me.

I took a medium format film camera and a DSLR.

Things left behind, like old buildings are really cool to photograph but I got to tell you it kind of gives me the creeps. You’re out there exposed in an isolated area with your gear and it’s unsettling when someone drives up and say’s, you own the property? I reply, no just taken a break and they drive off. In many ways Arizona is still a territory. You never know who’s armed and why. So it's a good idea to be prepared.

When I look at these pictures I see each photograph as a time capsule recording the place as it stands now. For me, I’m pulling from my own memory or visual library so to imagine what this must have looked like with people working or guests checking in. Now it’s left to you to complete your own narrative.

Here are some of the pictures I thought were interesting.

*******  I wanted to update this post.  I shot these pictures back in May of 2012.  It's now October 2012 and I went back to shoot more photo's with a friend.  To my surprise all the buildings were completely gone.  Nothing remains but smooth dirt.  Not even a concrete slab was left behind.  You would never know there was a commercial community that once occupied this area.