Tag Archives: abandoned

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Schoolhouse Windows and Sky

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Schoolhouse Windows and Sky

Schoolhouse Windows and Sky. Rhyolite, Nevada. April 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Schoolhouse windows and sky – Rhyolite, Nevada.

Back in April 2008 my brother and I spent several days photographing in and around Death Valley National Park. (I try to visit DV every April, and I’m hoping to be there again this year.) On this morning we got up early and drove to the historic ghost town of Rhyolite before dawn and spent a few hours photographing the old ruins, starting with pre-dawn light and continuing well into the morning. (When we finished we headed over to nearby Beatty, Nevada to get breakfast and gas, the latter at a much lower price than back in DV.) The old school house is one of the buildings that has withstood the ravages of the desert better than others. Despite losing windows, roof, and much else the building still stands – among the destroyed ruins of many other buildings. This photograph, made very close to actual dawn, looks through the interior of the building by lining up windows on a couple walls, with the nearby hills and high morning clouds seen beyond.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: ghost town, abandoned, school, rhyolite, mine, mining, nevada, death valley, national, park, structure, wall, window, sky, cloud, blue, light, morning, crack, stucco, wood, weathered, pattern, hill, mountain, ridge, shadow, travel, historic, history, scenic, architecture, frame, sill, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Tree, Brick Wall with Window and Pipe

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Tree, Brick Wall with Window and Pipe

Tree, Brick Wall with Window and Pipe. San Jose, California. January 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A very old brick wall with a pipe and boarded up window and an adjacent tree catching late afternoon winter light – San Jose, California.

This shadowed wall, terribly weathered, covered with moss, and growing plants where the downspout has leaked is on an old cannery building that is rapidly being “redeveloped” west of downtown San Jose, California. Given that nearby buildings of the same vintage have largely been boarded up and many knocked down to make room for condominiums, I am very surprised that this one still stands and may even still be in use – though not by a cannery. The texture and form of the shadowed wall caught my attention, along with the bit of direct light (and light reflected from the unseen left wall of the building) striking the tree.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: afternoon, building, california, city, county, downtown, evening, san jose, santa clara, urban, brick, wall, old, dilapidated, worn, weathered, moss, plant, pipe, downspout, window, boarded up, texture, pattern, structure, historic, tree, light, branch, leaf, sky, blue, california, usa, cannery, abandoned, industrial, urban, street, stock

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Rhyolite School Windows, Amargosa Range

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Rhyolite School Windows, Amargosa Range

Rhyolite School Windows – Amargosa Range. Near Beatty, Nevada. April 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Color photograph of the Amargosa Range as seen through the windows of the abandoned school in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada.

This is a reworking of a photograph I made in April of 2008 while visiting Death Valley National Park, California. The building is the ruins of an old – and once quiet impressive – school building in this abandoned mining town. The view through the windows looks out on the Amargosa Range, which runs along the eastern boundary of Death Valley NP. While visiting and photographing this scene, and now while considering the photograph, I wonder about the lives of the children attending school in this stark but beautiful place in the desert.

keywords: rhyolite, school, abandoned, ghost, town, windows, wall, amargosa, range, mountains, desert, nevada, usa, death valley, national park, black and white, ruins, historic, scenic, travel, landscape, stock

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Windows, Rhyolite School

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Windows, Rhyolite School

Windows, Rhyolite School. Rhyolite, Nevada. April 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Windows of the abandoned school in the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada look out over the Amargosa Desert. Students in the school who gazed out the western windows of the building were looking across a high sagebrush-filled valley at the range running along the eastern boundary of what is now Death Valley National Park.

keywords: ghost town, rhyolite, nevada, school, abandoned, ruins, mines, mining, historic, scenic, building, travel, death valley, national park, walls, windows, frame, stock