Bodie Undertaker

I really wish I knew the story behind this image.....its making me ask so many questions? 

This was taken in Bodie, an abandoned mining town in the Eastern Sierra of California. The state runs it as a park and maintains the buildings in what they refer to as, "a state of arrested decay". Many of the buildings are filled with the different tools of the trade. It looks like the people who lived there just walked away . . . a hundred years ago.

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.

Outstanding internal capture of great light and composition, all of the best.

Rashed - When I look at this image I think of a comment another photog friend of mine likes to make. "Would you want this hanging on your wall?" The answer: No . . . but it is still a compelling image to my eye. Thanks for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.

Drew, Very interesting photo. The detail and light are great. I love the coffin tops standing up and looking like more doors. I would hang this in my living room. 

I would rather have a photo on my wall that makes conversation (such as this photo), than one that simply gets an 'oh, what a pretty picture'. Great job!

Tony wrote: "Drew, Very interesting photo. The detail and light are great. I love the coffin tops standing up and looking like more doors. I would hang this in my living room"

And my favorite part was the wallpaper falling down from the ceiling and the view into the front room. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Kevin wrote: "I would rather have a photo on my wall that makes conversation (such as this photo), than one that simply gets an 'oh, what a pretty picture'. Great job!"

I agree Kevin, but I would be afraid of coming across somewhat macabre. Now a book . . . that's another story. I could see this in a book.

Thanks for the lovely compliments.

A fabulous capture and wonderfully rendered. This is a photo that reminds me the work of "old-fashioned" great photographers such as Walker Evans. This photo speaks about the saddest aspect of human life. It captures that limbo stage between emptiness and presence, what is not there anymore but it used to be. It looks like an abandoned building but there is a photo on the wall, and stuff on the table, that strongly bring back that sense of human presence. Great work.