![photo AMICO_MINIAPOLIS_103821546_zps684a8cb0.jpg](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uK6-k54z1T5KhTE4kv9hpUSqhieuUFf7orYTN6ph8F2jSZq-rN3jEzAM3seuquRkiGRlQzJlESBC3c6Hn10zFc3Gf6hWUhBNZ_f9BXEmi7cQGa_YzWuiaPKcHPEaJPiBE2M_SCrIeV8YRrBHWxt8fgKFb6DIk2LgFc6xdrwqH2WA=s0-d) |
untitled; 1979 |
Often I find buildings
can be as fascinating and engaging to look at as
any human face, and William Christenberry's photographs are a fine example of this. Growing up in a post-agricultural-boom hamlet, I was peculiarly fixated on
the abandoned farms and houses near my home; as a girl, my
sketchbooks and journals were just filled with stories, poems, and
drawings of these vacant buildings out in the hills, imagining up all the stories that could be within their walls. His portraits of
dilapidated buildings bring me back to those feelings of summertime wonder and exploration, tinged with the strangeness of decay. Christenberry
also has a wonderful eye for folk advertising signs, and his manner of
capturing vestiges of local color is reminiscent of F.S.A. photographers
like my beloved Walker Evans.
Now, a major pet peeve of mine is the
recent trend for "
ruin porn", or senseless romanticization of abandoned
buildings (like the pictures of abandoned Detroit which make us go "oh, how tragic!"). I find
this a problematic way to look at these modern ruins, as it reduces
them to glorified "has-beens" and doesn't take any heed of the larger cultural and social implications of urban decay.
I think Christenberry's work nicely shows a way of documenting faded
structures without lapsing into that trite and reductive sea, however. His buildings may be weathered and derelict, but they are also bursting with the vitality of a past culture.
Looking at them doesn't make me feel melancholic or nostalgic, but
rather I see the potential for art and beauty in these otherwise
overlooked old buildings.
![photo AMICO_SAAM_103813128_zps0962f0af.jpg](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_saI0CChUfXJjby7REhwsoNJcZC3jjI1V2DUTnnsF7lNRAjnkq4NiYPcUTa-dG1uspA4RWBox39RmVKyyahgmTVqgDASmAiFBsFs9jd0--QuF63qD6DafU9G1Y258Y-oVmNMU_pRD5QLCZmq51VI5BmkTijwi_tYIh_fA=s0-d) |
South End of Palmist Building--Havana, Alabama; 1979 |
![photo AMICO_SAAM_103813054_zps81c92517.jpg](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vl94PpeOxul3rRlwyADE6VBo66QNJ1hn14D2xQ_byE_NwDwW5mdkjRbuF7xiNGPG3l8i4e6x1JFj6b0LzEwCn_ELOcjFWb4OEEjLRueCa3r9EMnsts_MQdsemeCKbOvJwwEzG-zzs-bacr5jBeYGWv010U21yXUh6CaA=s0-d) |
Cotton Warehouse Door with Cart--Selma, Alabama; 1979 |
![photo AMICO_CL_103803593_zps6e54330d.jpg](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sYu5rjo8-Pd9IrO3pQRs5-43IRkG7vfdCHWBj2Ocu5GWlss9YBQtg5jNpJtw3pzETZx1g_2ALPbLuStkc8xKsOKRWhSPOpg5SEB6F1tSGc7dfv7ar7dEbe-gOOax5z6LQ1p-YbkONIinBhfX917GNlNXcJctHTc-g=s0-d) |
House and Car, near Akron, Alabama; 1981. |
|
![photo AMICO_MINIAPOLIS_103821541_zps03e95afc.jpg](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_usEBRPoSmIPDvubpiWCnHhrxMRJ_gl18nqEFIzwSW7Gm6SSnv1ZbAEkJ2QWXO2jmiGyYM2TDSFaPblibHqK4R3LPX0LVvB22CEegKpvyEXMX51oBCYVpx2NgMZZCYe642gIHLDMshU65OYE0oVg5Jq3Srxn-UH5VWVdheIiEXzPA=s0-d) |
untitled; 1979 |
![photo ACOLBYIG_10313206244_zps285d585f.jpg](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tTOg5dGY_slT9PpsGvik5fmbI5dKqnaE-eKHS2z15EEn-yEKhOzUg-jb0liKS6MT2TwEuXlUV5z18VGPBeGJScq4eW1EvtDSRIL0ew7JExQ9n4PW46lWJjApg-JDNIz2TMGeiC3MgsVgzuHNMqx71gLbx-DzpjfbJCaQ=s0-d) |
Union Gas Station, Near Greensboro, Alabama; 1977 |
![photo ARTSTOR_103_41822001208188_zpsd4d181b8.jpg](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_saB_Wmn29T-eKpuWQQXEQRVOnF6T1goEGtP_K58zLGmoSNLJhIM5IGa79bjObtRZ3Ns0fIWK8U17rxFlSHPvY9v5h67gNllMpI-wj6hOZlagEx55KH9cLM1d1yNNbJeeg4mWyp3RKyolg9K3cixqYbg4LbDa_7u4Um5AGKANAMqg=s0-d) |
Child's Grave w/Roses, Hale County, Alabama; 1975 |
Have a fine weekend now!
♥♥♥