THIRD PLACE WINNER - Architecture: Industrial (AMATEUR)
Traces Left Behind
Photo © John Eaton
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TRACES LEFT BEHIND
In 1906, the first of many cylindrical grain silos were constructed In Buffalo using reinforced concrete. At the time European architects cited these monumental edifices as key examples of modernist functional design, featuring in the writings and photographs of Gropius, Le Corbusier, Mendelsohn and others. However, in the 1960s and 70s these most of these facilities were abandoned and left to decay.
Traces Left Behind is a visual tribute to the role that these silos played in America’s industrial heritage, documenting the silo’s dramatic form against the skyline. Inside, 50+years of decay alongside chaos in a black maze of derelict grain-handling equipment, machinery and workshops is captured using minimal equipment in the available light – most of the machinery is either on top of the silos, 125’ up rotten stairs, or in subterranean basements.
“ in abandonment and death they evoke the majesties of a departed civilization”; Reyner Banham, A Concrete Atlantis, 1986.
I’m energized in exploring images of what I see around me, especially architecture and landscape (the interest in architecture comes from the rest of my family -- my father, brother and son are all architects). I’m fascinated by the form and function of buildings that men and women create and equally by the infinite forms that nature creates and by the impacts that mankind has on shaping those forms.
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TRACES LEFT BEHIND
In 1906, the first of many cylindrical grain silos were constructed In Buffalo using reinforced concrete. At the time European architects cited these monumental edifices as key examples of modernist functional design, featuring in the writings and photographs of Gropius, Le Corbusier, Mendelsohn and others. However, in the 1960s and 70s these most of these facilities were abandoned and left to decay.
Traces Left Behind is a visual tribute to the role that these silos played in America’s industrial heritage, documenting the silo’s dramatic form against the skyline. Inside, 50+years of decay alongside chaos in a black maze of derelict grain-handling equipment, machinery and workshops is captured using minimal equipment in the available light – most of the machinery is either on top of the silos, 125’ up rotten stairs, or in subterranean basements.
“ in abandonment and death they evoke the majesties of a departed civilization”; Reyner Banham, A Concrete Atlantis, 1986.
About author:
Born and raised in England, but living in California since the late 1980’s, my photographic skills are self-taught through decades of patience and practice. Black and white photography has always been my first love -- the simplicity, elegance, drama, timeliness and richness that it can bring to an image for me drives a more visceral response. I’m excited by the emotional ‘punch’ that black and white images bring in this particular context – the contrasts between light and dark, areas of luminance and tonality, and the abstractions of shapes and forms -- that “special” quality that heightens the emotion and impact of the image.I’m energized in exploring images of what I see around me, especially architecture and landscape (the interest in architecture comes from the rest of my family -- my father, brother and son are all architects). I’m fascinated by the form and function of buildings that men and women create and equally by the infinite forms that nature creates and by the impacts that mankind has on shaping those forms.
BACK TO GALLERY
