What It Is ghost town that fascinates us?
It is the idea that people like us who took incredible risks to the possibility of a better life? We compare our lives to it - the same dreams, the same basic needs, and believe that it can stack against us seems insurmountable. A simple thing like the ability to keep warm is essential for us if she was a life-threatening challenge.
Each of us probably have our own unique attractionsIn the past, but I think it's the thought that people who enjoy the prosperity that would be committed unimaginable difficulties faced - only for the possibility of prosperity. It would probably be the epitaph of almost all who have emigrated Bodie, California. This high desert community was created for the sole purpose of obtaining wealth: gold!
Founded in 1859, was amended by Bodey and her partner, "Little Red" Taylor, the search for gold - the gold Bodey would never $ 400,000,000that was extracted from the earth. Only three months after finding the first traces of gold in August '59 Bodey died in a fierce snowstorm. This would have a warning to those who uprooted their families and have to travel. Even by today's standards Bodie is present literally in the middle of nowhere, so to leave a family, which is probably a comfortable house and a new life in what are described as hell on earth is an extreme seasons - unfathomable. Ironically, forthe lucky few who achieved economic success - more successful, and among those who paid the ultimate price. No place is further evidence that in the Bodie cemetery.
I visited several times over the years, Bodie. As a photographer and an explorer of the past, Bodie holds a unique charm that this time and space in a way a community lives lost past ghost story to tell their story. A trip to Bodie in particular, is characterized, among many others. Itwas the end of November 2005. As a photographer I often like to place, which for most of the season as they visit to avoid crowds of tourists. Not that I do not like with people - but try to capture the essence of a particular scene can be very frustrating, with hundreds of spectators. So, the visit of the winter and spring is the answer, and, unfortunately, it usually means bad weather. Sometimes, very seriously.
As I slowlybrought my jeep in the clearance of 13 miles on the road (the last 3) of gravel and dust, I often have seen the thermometer. When I was on Highway 395, he had read 30 degrees. Within 13 miles of this device and go to 8000, the temperature had dropped to 20 degrees, with clouds in the south. I remembered that I clamp to closely monitor the weather, such as Bodie, not a place you need it!
Coming at the end of the bumpy, dusty disc, is an incredibleExperience that is passed on the last hill, enter it in the eyes of Bodie, and roll the broad valley that surrounds it. Even in the late autumn grass of the desert and the brush was always full of life, with bright yellow and autumn-like colors. The remaining 50 buildings in Bodie look as though they would probably appeared more than a hundred years. It is hard to imagine that lies boomtown Bodie was once the home of more than 10,000 citizens! Today it is considered as the largest ghost town in the descriptionUnited States, is small compared to what there while hay per day.
When I saw the old city nearby, I noticed something amazing: I was alone! With the exception of a park ranger cars from the far north - as it seemed, there was no one there! Sure, it's still too early - 7:00, but even then it was very rare to find other visitors. It turns out that I am the unique experience with Bodie had me all day!
A storm is approaching
GreatPhotographs require that all elements are the dream of every photographer of the landscape in a place like this. Perfect light - an intense, warm, slightly sloping, dramatic clouds - rich in tone and contrast, as the wind as little as possible, and most importantly - a fascinating subject. This cold day in November was my day, since all these elements were in perfect order.
As I watched the storm approaching, I felt that was about 5 to 6 hours recording time left, if I do nothing, however, has a team of sled dogsto come! With such initial conditions of the shooting, I had quick decisions to take where to start and finish. If I would have waited as late as possible, the sun rose on the horizon, so that long shadow - perfect for the cemetery - where the sun is still visible. So I decided to spend the first hours of driving in the city.
One of the first shots of the day was the Dechambeau IOOF hotel with the adjacent building. That was the blowDay I left a very happy photographer. Of the many pictures that I've made over the years, generated just as much conversation about it. From an artistic point of view, keeps his eyes done, and that imagination ridiculed. Were from a technical point of view - as I said earlier, all the elements there, I was very happy!
Bodie is one of the more surprising as it is still preserved. While the center has never been a restorationalways in a state of arrested decay. Much of what you see is how it was ignored. As I wandered through the deserted streets, howling winds increase slightly through the slats of wood in the affected structures. I tried to take his hands go numb because of the great cold. Even with modern clothes, cold winter, was a reminder of what needs to eat to how the fight was, if we manage to survive the many years of hard winters. It is not surprising that many eventsDeath on the graves are during the winter months ... especially children.
One of Bodie is preserved in the Methodist Church. Ironically, given the hell-raising reputation of the city. Killings were not rare - usually drunk more disputes and fights game show. Bodie legendary stories are a young girl, said after learning that his family was moved Bodie, a short and simple note: "Goodbye God, I'll Bodie."
TheStorm seemed to south at a pace faster than I had expected. If I could, to some quality shots in the cemetery that I need to get the tempo! Working my way down Green Street, the wind increased in intensity, with each burst with its icy will penetrate deeply drilled. Since the wind is howling intensified, half the population has been falling heavily through the dark clouds - while the other half was wrapped in a vibrant, deep sky. Veryunusual, to say the least.
St. green is a long downhill, dirt and rock covered road full of weeds and sage. Belts my parka hood, so sore, my face against the cold, I wondered if perhaps 100 years before the children were playing on the same street. Simple games can be as kick-the-can. Or does the soul can be considered as a climate killer kept inside, almost a form of heat. I paused a moment, turned to introduce an open ear for the noiseLaughing children. The moment was brief, because the strong wind surrounded me with a strange, strange feeling .... as if I was not alone.
We can not be a realistic idea of life was very difficult without spending some time in the cemetery at Bodie. I do not know exactly how many times I visited Bodie, but each visit is always finishes in the cemetery. While reading the headstones, wondering how they fought to survive long enough to the fever of the "gold quiet, it is hoped --swept by a continuous search the city as a pandemic. Each stone tells a story. Plaques described a life that lasted only a few months, weeks or days, not infrequently in the cemetery at Bodie.
As I moved quietly to the cemetery, the creation of my easel, light measurement, shot over several floors - dark soon descend on the city, especially the cemetery. Gusts have begun to scatter the low gray sky ... Wind change the pitch of a soundThere is no comparison, to soon be signed.
But nothing could prepare me for what may be remarked a few moments the strange voice in the wind. Perhaps this was due to after a busy day, the bones cooling cold, the atmosphere of fatigue on the left. In any case, I suddenly felt as if I were monitored. A little girl. Shy, lonely behind a gravestone. Eventually, I met my inclusion of a tombstone that I have seen several times on previous trips - butNever during these conditions. As I looked through the viewfinder, I saw something that had for some reason I have never seen, which sent a shiver in my soul. The tombstone was photographed Arthor name - died on 11 November 1899.
My legal name is Arthur. Your birth date - the 11th November.
A strange coincidence, to say the least.
The snow began to fall harder, disappear visibility at any time I spent wondering whether I should call it a day.
When Imy Jeep on the dirt road, running away from me Bodie, I held on and took a moment to look back through the deserted city. With the hard snow, and the ridicule of the wind that literally rolls on the side, has a ghost town a little more light, dark, distant images into a white spot. A surreal, the eternal home of the past. I briefly thought about a photograph of the flight phase ... but he refused.
This picture that I am always there for me.
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