Knowings Not Enough

This was taken inside the old railround roundhouse on the former site of the Southern Pacific Bayshore Railyards. Located just south of San Francisco, these once extensive yards are now empty and largely cleared out. This roundhouse was one of few remaining signs that a busy railsystem existed. Unfortunately, the building was gutted in a fire in the fall of 2001...

I particularly like this image because a lot can be read into it. Compositionally it is interesting because the room is dark and on the other side of the archway the room is bright. The sign of course is what makes it incredible (I really wonder why it was originally painted and when) because it is symbolic of the whole building. The graffiti I think is also important. The graphic of a flag is also interesting, it may or may not be an American flag, but I assume it is meant to be a representation of such. And of course the fact that the building was once a part of a rail yard. Railroads are one of the industries that essentially built America, and have been allowed to deteriorate and be forgotten, unlike in Europe and Japan where they have been embraced

This is one of the problems with American society, we may have knowledge but we either dont know it, dont know what to do with it, or have forgotten it. Because knowing is simply not enough, we have to have the drive to use that knowledge and expand upon it, and also to remember where it came from and what it represents. This sign on this building is a cry for help for us to remember. Which I think you are striving to do in your photography, these places are extremely interesting because they have been forgotten and abandoned. So to carry on that knowledge you are not simply documenting, but creating something new that allows us to see the ghosts of America, which got us to where we are. I think this is what graffiti artists also do try to doGraffiti is usually seen as a sign of decay, or it might be considered vandalismbut good graffiti I think is a means of leaving a mark of accomplishment...either its meant to be seen because its location is difficult to reach, or because of this location, it will only be seen by the adventurous urban explorer or fellow graffiti artistit might not be pretty but it certainly is an art about location just as photography can be. And it strives to make you aware of its location. Anyway, this is what this photograph and a lot of the folders in youre profile have been making think about