Metal Shingles and Electrical Wire. Bodie, California. October 13, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Weathered metal shingles and electrical wire on the wall of an abandoned building in the historic Bodie, California ghost town
I’ve visited Bodie a number of times, and I find the history of the place fascinating – from its mining roots up to its gradual death in the 20th Century. That said, and despite the obvious wealth of potential subjects, I’ve had a hard time warming up to it as a photographic subject. It is difficult to get there at the times of day when the light is most interesting, due to the limited hours the state park is open. And the midday light can be very harsh. In addition, it is an increasingly popular tourist attraction, which adds an additional challenge to the photography – unless you are there to photograph the people.
The times when I’ve enjoyed photographing there have almost all been those with “interesting” weather – perhaps some building afternoon thunderstorms, light snow, or possibly rain. Bodie was on our “maybe” list for shooting subjects on this trip – but when we saw clouds and snow along the eastern Sierra on this day we decided to head out there and see if this would add some interest. Once you are in Bodie, certain subjects seem to come to mind – photographing the many old derelict buildings, the overall landscape of the town, the surrounding landscape, the mining equipment and structures. I first focused on the old buildings, but then began to look a bit more at some of the smaller elements, such as this section of a rusted metal shingled wall with a bit of old electrical wire dangling from its side.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
Makes perfect sense. There seems to be an assumption, based on my admittedly limited exposure to contemporary thinking in the photographic realm, that “real” photographers have consciously planned and executed every shot, and that if they haven’t, they aren’t “real” photographers and their works lack validity. That seems ludicrously limiting and doesn’t leave any room for intuition, which, to my mind, is akin to improvisation in music.
This image echoes some pieces of “modern art” that I have seen. I can’t say that I’m drawn toward works in that genre, but I find this particular piece quite appealing. The fact that this was captured in an old ghost town creates an interesting intersection between the recent and the remote. Was this a connection you envisioned?
Interesting thought. My answer may not be completely satisfying…
I’m not always consciously aware of all of the possible connections and relationships or potential meanings or interpretations when I make a photograph. Most often my focus is simply on the actual and present qualities of the subject itself – in other words, I’m creating an image rather than a statement, at least on the conscious level.
However, since my experience includes a wide range of artistic influences and more, it is possible – actually likely – that those other things are part of the intuition that I bring to seeing and making photographs. When I shot this, I really thought primarily about the form and texture and color of the metal shingles and about the dissonance of their form with the broken and bent wire hanging loosely.
When it comes to finding “meaning” in a photograph – or any of many other sorts of artistic things – there is often a complex balance between what the artists knows intuitively, thinks of consciously, and what the viewer brings to his or her own response to the work. All are valid and all have their place.
Dan