The Artful Engineer

I spent a few days in Cheyenne, Wyoming, back in May. I was able to steal a few hours to wander around with my camera. As usual, I found myself exploring a rather tired part of town. Eventually I am going to be able to make a whole gallery of broken windows along the lines of the image above. Despite that, I still enjoy seeing the broken bits of glass clinging to the muntins and hints of the tattered mess inside.

This next building is more industrial, although I don’t know its original purpose. For that matter, I don’t know the purpose of that door, either, although the concrete below it does show signs that perhaps there used to be stairs that have since been removed. There’s a few things that make this image work. The overall symmetry defines the framework and the rusty apparatus set in the alcove on the lower right breaks it; other prominent features include the gray door—an unusual color to stand out but it does so here—and the X-shaped angle irons across the upper window. Beyond that, each open window offers a dim glimpse inside and you almost can’t help looking in every one of them.

Speaking of muntins, clearly someone thought they were not enough to keep people out of this abandoned building, so they added metal tubes, rebar, and wire mesh just to make quadruply sure:

I am not sure whether the window or the fire escape was first on the scene, but bricking the entire window in to secure it is definitely taking things to a new level. (Ouch!)

Brick walls almost always have character. Here, I like the pattern of the bricks down the right edge and the white-washed square, well-weathered.

All of the above images are, for me, pretty standard fare. I like them, so I am happy to share them, but admit that maybe I am in a rut with brick walls, windows, and doors. Next week I have some different things from the same walk, but here’s something in the meantime to tide you over:

I like the composition here—it is a bit like a flag, with three horizontal bands. The top and bottom are very plain and neutral, contrasting with the vibrant center band that spans the frame. I’d like to think the composition makes this more than a simple photograph of someone else’s artwork, but clearly they spent more time making their image than I did making mine. Regardless, this image is unlike any others that I can recall in my catalog; I can’t control whether an image represents something new in the world, but I am always happy when it represents something new in mine.