THE DOORS

How welcoming they must have been.

Dave: In this shot you've captured much of what happened to so many small family farms in Missouri starting in the early '80s. This is an all too common sight even now. Nice composition and treatment. Regards, Joe

This has the look of a faded picture from a story on "The Plight Of Our Family Farms" in old Sunday newspaper supplement, maybe 1954 when color was still something of a novelty

I love shots like these. You're a true master with stuff like this; showing the demise and dilapidation of old structures and buildings. It's a good picture, nicely composed, with the faded green and white timber and the porch that is about to fall apart. Well done. I'm glad to see you back in full force!

 

Best regards from Frank

This old porch has seen better days. Eventually, it'll fade into the dust and grain of memory and then the memory will fade, too. This reminds me of my grandparents' farm house in Iowa, now long gone.

Joe, Jack, Frank and Jeff, I thank you so much. I was driving along a stretch of two lane road in the North of Missouri, and spotted this old house with a barn on it's last legs next to it. Slammed on the brakes, turned around and took the gravel road to get to the house. As I approached, there was an old farmer across the road putting some feed out for some cows. He was eyeing me suspiciously. He wore old rubber boots, fluorescent orange hat, torn and ripped clothing. You know the type. I drove up to him, exchanged pleasantries, and asked if that was his house and barn. He said it was and it had been in his family for several generations. I asked if I could photograph the property and he said he didn't want me to as he was ashamed of it and the fact that he did not have enough money to fix the house and barn up. He had lived in that house as a boy, and apparently he and his wife lived in it at one time also. His wife died on him, and he told me he wouldn't be around much longer either since he was in his eighties. After we talked for awhile, he said I could go ahead and photograph the place.

 

And now you all should be asking why I did not photograph this wonderful old American farmer so much a part of our history and so redolent in his milieu. And now you also will understand why I'm always kicking myself in the butt for missing such obvious opportunities!

I know exactly what you mean - you're focused on getting the shot you're after, so focused that you miss other opportunities and things worthy of photographing. John Shaw, the great nature photographer, claims in his books that one should take time to look around before settling on a scene and taking a shot. You were probably too engaged in the conversation with the lonely farmer to think of this, probably even feeling a bit uncomfortable you were invading his property so you missed the opportunity of photographing the farmer. I'm sure we all recognize the feeling. Better luck next time! And you didn't end up completely empty-handed, you still did get this great shot, did you? :)

I love the minimal color of this image and the grainy treatment you've given it but even more I love the story of the farmer and his plight. And I totally understand why you didn't photograph him, you just couldn't bring your self to ask.....huh?! A missed opportunity too. We're rapidly loosing our farm grounds to subdivisions and mega businesses, there are less and less younger people wanting to get into farming and or ranching.......where's our food going to come from.....overseas?! I love your "political" and "docuementary" photos, it gives me an opportunity to get on my soapbox once in a while. The house maybe ready to fall down but it was a grand ol' dame in it's heyday.

David, I like that old shabi "landscape"... as it has a story/history and still keeps the hints of color and beauty of the past. It is a door, but open/ closed, you can not see beyond it, and rest only the story told and uploaded by you. Yes, I'm sorry that the old farmer was not photographed by you... but I would not kick you.....;-))

Good thing you do like my political crap, because there's plenty of it. I felt the grainy treatment kind of suited this subject. It's a long way from Montana, but it could just as easily have been there.

I know you are far too genteel to kick anybody. I've already strained my leg by kicking my butt, so you don't have to. Thanks for looking and commenting.

. . . so I'll be happy to give you a swift kick! Tell me why I'm kicking you again? Oh, right, 'fraid o' the ol' farmer guy. Well, it's not so easy asking people to take their pitchers. It took me a while and now the people part of photography is among my favorite parts. I spend many a good time with all kinds of interesting people, from more intimate to less, and seem to be able to put them at ease for the most part. I generally am after a combination of what I want to get and what they want to give. What I've learned is that, first, I have to be at ease and comfortable with what I'm doing. If not, just forget it. So, David, I think you, as each of us should, need to find your own comfort level and work with that. Push yourself, yes, but don't force yourself to do what doesn't come somewhat naturally.

 

This shot is a natural. It's almost got that old world magazine illustration feel to it. It's a great image with a story behind it. It's very much you and that comes through. It's stark and direct without being cold. It's got feeling and empathy about it. Straightforward and yet quite meaningful. It's a really nice addition to your portfolio.

it seems that touching the weather door would be the last thing the visitor would do. Afterwards he would look like a porcupine with all the wooden pieces sticking out of him. This image has a kinda restful quality: rest assured you won't get the doors open. But hey, maybe 100 years ago what was behind them was inviting and cozy. Cheers, Micheal

Actually, it was once a very nice house. Why it had this door set up is beyond me, but you can see that they were nice at one time. It was a large two story house that once must have been very valuable.

Thanks a lot for the thoughts. You are right that you cannot take images of people if you are projecting discomfiture in the process. I'm not comfortable in front of a camera myself. I think I project that when taking images of others. But I like people images, and really respect good portraiture. So, I do intend to try and work on this aspect of my photography. To do that I think it will be necessary to forget my hesitation and jump into it. At first I'm sure the result will be less than satisfactory, but as I become more comfortable, my subjects are more likely to become more at ease. So I am kicking myself for not making the effort. I need to stop being afraid of failure. Pure and simple.

Although Plato would strongly disagree, his predecessor Heraclitus (most commonly known for opining that "you cannot step into the same river twice" and all the ramifications that go along with that) would say that without failure there could be no success.

A very nice image of sorry state....I like the composition , the colors....the treatment suits it well as it magnifies the state and ruggedness....I particularly like the wood planks on the right bending down or up...

Thanks. Good to hear from you.

I'm glad I found this image as a comparison to my take on this type of subject. Very nice interpretation using soft tones and faded colors. Nice to hear the story behind it too.

Thank you very much for taking a look. I hope you will stay awhile.