Sunday, May 17, 2009

A time thankfully gone by

Click to enlarge
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This eyesore of a shack around the corner from me burned to the ground last week.
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I can't say I'm sorry.
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Visit Aileni for more monochrome meanderings.
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23 comments:

Dina said...

Oi Robin, I hope you weren't around when the asbestos roof was burning. :(

Anonymous said...

This is strange to comment straight after...LOL

Dina makes a good point, but hay this makes a good monochrome..:-)

Jane Hards Photography said...

I'm with Dina. A good monochrome subject, if a somewhat scary one of past mistakes.

Leora said...

I wonder if it was planned arson? In the U.S., someone would collect insurance. Yes, good monochrome. Glad you have an empty lot for something new and possibly useful.

annalarssonphotography said...

I wonder if it was planned too?

Good mono!

Anna

vincibene said...

Interesting good subject fór monochrome.

Bim said...

Yes, it looks very interesting in mono. I hope the fire fighters arrived before the roof caught fire -

Dagrun said...

Fires are scary, really. It made a nice monochrome shot though.. :)

Anne said...

A picture that is so sceary!!

A nice shot, but still...
Have a nice week.

Terri said...

I find the building really interesting and it makes me want to know its story. It's a powerful image and very effective in BW.

RivkA with a capital A said...

Hey Robin,

I've been lurking more than commenting recently.

I really like the pic of the sky through the contrasting tarps.

RivkA

Robin said...

The building, if I can even call it a building, use to house a tiny little bike shop run by the most cantakerous old man you've ever met. He actually yelled at my husband once for trying to buy a small (and readily available from any real bike shop) repair tool, telling him that he had no business trying to fix bicycles and what was he trying to do, run him out of business??? All this for a $5 tool to fix his OWN bike. Even my son still remembers "the mean bicycle man". I wondered at the time if there wasn't some kind of illness involved, and as the years went by the shop was open less and less, lately just a few days a year. I guess the old guy finally retired or became unable to work.

If it was arson it could have been for insurance, but more likely it was for the real estate, because I can't imagine a shack (and it was just a shack) carrying much insurance coverage. Either that or just carelessness or aggravation, who knows.

Whatever it was it's gone now, fenced off with giant sheets of white metal until whoever owns it sorts out what to do with it now.

Anonymous said...

I used to fix bikes for kids in our neighbourhood in Wales and believe me the things they did to their bikes just to aggravate made me pretty bad tempered - particularly as they never had to pay.
At least the old shack made an excellent B&W subject - a good picture.

Anonymous said...

It does make a good b&w image - and there is a bit of a story behind it too! I think every neighbourhood has a grumpy character and a grumpy house in it. At least both of yours have gone :)

jabblog said...

Now is it just coincidence that you photographd it just before it burnt down?? Just kidding! Really interesting shot - not a case of beauty in the eye of the beholder, more an eye for composition.

Riimus Fungus said...

My comment is not about the burned bike shop, it's about your header photo (sorry I did not know where else to comment). I just found your blog by accident (while doing a google image search of an elephant!) and noticed your kitchen header image. It's beautiful! So homey! SO friendly! I love it! The colours! The light! Great photo that captures the atmosphere in your kitchen!

Carver said...

That makes a great monochrome shot. It could be so many different things. I guess my point is looking at it you can read a lot of different kind of stories into it. Excellent.

Mojo said...

I'm glad you explained the story behind it. It's a compelling photo (naturally) but I figured there had to be more to the story. Otherwise it's just another derelict building.

Daryl said...

Insurance? Someone wanted that prime corner location?

In any case, it will be interesting to see what goes in there...

"Sunshine" said...

...but it made an awesome subject for your mono!

Clueless in Boston said...

I like the picture. It may have been a shack, but there was a lot of character to it and a lot of photo opportunities.

Now, if that old curmudgeon had some claim to fame, and a movie is made about him, he will be played as a crusty old bugger with a heart of gold and ultimately lovable. Too bad real life isn't like the movies.

Samantha ~ Holly and Zac ~ said...

I agree with the others, it does or rather did make a great mono shot. :-)

Anonymous said...

Something's telling me I know who was the fire-starter LOL!