stopping to see the houses

It's sort of like stopping to smell the roses, except the beauty is a little harder to see sometimes. It is stopping to see the beauty in something forgotten.

I've passed this house so many times. I noticed it each time, was struck by how cool it must have once been, and I would reinstate that mental note to photograph it someday.  As I drove down this street last week, I noticed another forgotten house along the way had been torn down, so I made yet another mental note to photograph this house. Today, as I drove past, I realized I needed to stop adding it to my "to photograph" list, and finally photograph it. I took the time to stop, and appreciate how pretty it must have once been. The window on the top floor was probably really cool.

Another nearby house that I've repeatedly added to my mental "to photograph" list. If you follow me on instagram (and if you don't follow me there yet, my user name is jessicacoffee), then you may have seen a shot of this I took a few days ago. Today, I needed to stop again, and appreciate it. Partly for fear that they may be tearing it down, and partly to remember it, in the hopes they are repurposing it.

the forgotten garden

We were out enjoying a hike, when we stumbled upon forgotten gardening equipment. I am always surprised when I find something abandoned, especially something expensive like a house, or in this case, a giant lawn mower. It was buried under vines and branches, and I probably would have missed it, if I didn't see the bright orange against the white snow and brown vines.

The other gardening equipment was buried too, and I wasn't sure exactly what they were or did. Just struck again by the feelings the forgotten items always provoke. I wonder where their owners are, how big things are just forgotten, and how their presence reminds me of the life that used to exist there. I know that may seem like a lot for a forgotten lawnmower, but it isn't so much the lawmower as the idea that someone used to use it, someone put it there, and somehow it became "forgotten."

Gilbert & Bennett Factory

I love when I get an email that starts with "I saw this amazing place you have to check out..." It was one of these emails from a dear friend, that lead us to the Gilbert & Bennett factory.

This building is one of many, but the only one I could see up close (they rest are blocked from view behind barbed wire fences covered in heavy tarps); but this building was so cool, I wasn't sad I couldn't see the others up close.

As with so many forgotten places, the windows are so captivating.

I love this window because I could catch a little glimpse of the machines inside (third pane from the left on the bottom row).

One final shot from the day....

Freestylin'

Last weekend, we had some free time and no set place to photograph next. We decided to go on a roadtrip, and "freestyle." Maybe we would find some cool place, maybe we would find a great coffee shop, maybe we would just drive around and have good conversation. We were up for anything. We picked a direction, packed some snacks and headed out.

We aren't sure what this little building was used for (perhaps a farm stand?) but it was pretty.

We were happy we found something "cool," and continued on. I spotted this amazing former antique shop. We immediately stopped and couldn't stop staring at it. It was huge, and yellow (I love yellow houses/buildings. There's just something warm and inviting about them, even when they are falling down).

 

We couldn't see anything through the windows. They all seemed to have boards or probably the fallen ceiling agains them. The old tv seemed to be all that remained.

Our road trip was definitely a success.  We drove a few more miles and found an abandoned factory (now I was just feeling really lucky!).

We heard there were two abandoned silos on the same road, and continued on to find them. They were set back from the road, and we would have totally missed them if we didn't know they existed. The first thing I found when we arrived was a random bicycle tire leaning against a tree. It wasn't all that significant on its own, however, I found a picture of the same bicycle tire in the same spot on flickr taken 4 years ago. No one has been through here in all that time, possibly bumped into the tire, knocked it over, anything??? I just made me realize how forgotten this spot really was.

There was something a little bit creepy about the silos, so I didn't spend a lot of time here. I don't like to  photograph creepy places (there will be a blog post soon on the one creepy place I photographed).

Overall, we had an amazing road trip! We found more than I imagined we would.

Abandoned Factories Finding a New Purpose

We went on a little road trip yesterday to find a great coffee shop and hopefully see a few abandoned factories. It was getting dark when we got there (and the wind was brutual), but we still had a few short moments to take in the factories.



The windows and doors are always a favorite of mine.


These factories were especially exciting to see because they are in the process of being repurposed. We saw one that we visited last year, transformed from forgotten to beautiful. I'm excited to see what becomes of these on our next visit.

Bennett College

Many years ago, a few friends and I were going up to Millbrook to visit someone. We passed this gorgeous abandoned building, and I remember thinking "I need to come back and see that again someday." Years passed, but I didn't forget how beautiful that building was despite the fact that it was falling apart.

Recently, I started researching it, because I was curious how something so beautiful could be forgotten I discovered the main building, Halcyon Hall was built in 1893 as a hotel. It was an amazing 5 story, 200 room building. The hotel wasn't very successful, and became the home to Bennett College around 1907. Now that I knew a little bit about the building, it was time to find it.

We set off on our road trip knowing only a nearby intersection. We arrived at that point, and caught a glimpse of the building. It was more amazing than I remembered.

The magnitude of the building is almost overwhelming. I wanted to take it all in, and tried to slowly appreciate all of the amazing details.




We made our way around the outside of the property (we never crossed the "keep out" fence), and each view was more interesting than the last.



I love this window.


Nearby, we found a newer dorm. It too was forgotten, and although not structurally as beautiful as the main building, it was still interesting. Notice the lonely yellow chair on the second floor.

There is such a captivating beauty in this building, that I can't wait to go back and photograph it again.

It's time to blog

Blogging has been on my "to do" list for what feels like forever. It hasn't moved up on the list, off the list, but this year I will blog.

I am a photographer, and I love sharing the stories of my photos. The photo adventures, the families that welcome me into their lives to capture special moments, the moments I'm someplace unexpected and find something I must capture. The photo is a part of this amazing journey, and I can't wait to share it with you.

Welcome to my blog. I can't wait to share my process and the amazing experiences I have when looking through my camera.