Industrial Photographs
(The Energy of Delusion)
Camera in hand, I have always been attracted to industrial sites and metropolitan waste places. They mimic the same tranquil solitudes I enjoy in remote wilderness areas but with a human touch, sometimes a very heavy human touch. I found such “oases” to be, though occasionally inherently dangerous, particularly interesting in New York City when I was shooting large-format (4x5) on a daily basis in 1976. The mysterious, sculptural objects, surprising and gorgeous textures, errant and poetic messages found in faded words and the oft-melancholy, even abject, decay — all combined to make me, too, desire what Gary Winogrand sought: “To see what something looks like photographed.” These images were created in a few of my favorite neighborhoods in Brooklyn including the nearby Gowanus Canal area. I also worked under the Brooklyn Bridge before it became gentrified, the Weehawken train yards in New Jersey one glorious summer day with my best friend and fellow photographer, Harry Preston, and on my many photography treasure hunts to Staten Island and City Island. I should also mention that, at that time, I had just learned of the industrial photographs of Hilla and Bernd Becher which only served to encourage my explorations of these gymnasiums for the imagination. Hence, you also will see (in the accompanying text) an occasional “Homage” to various artists of that time whose work I saw frequently, circa 1976. I continue to be attracted to and fascinated by these often-overlooked “art galleries” in our midst, even 50 years later (!) — especially the anonymous sculptures, paintings and multi-disciplinary installations that they display for all of us to experience.