SequesteredLast summer I drove past this wreck at least 20 times (well, maybe it was ten). Each time I said to my husband, "Wow, this is such a cool wreck. I've GOT to photograph it before it's gone!" And each time we got out onto that same isolated stretch of highway (to go to the nearest Home Depot for construction supplies) I forgot my camera. Talk about preoccupied...
The day I finally remembered to take my equipment along--in this case, my tiny point and shoot--the wreck was still present. There she was, basking in the heat of a late summer morning, nestled in the mayhem of all those weeds. Lucky me!
I got out of the car and took about 30 shots. Each view of the truck had something different to offer. The view of the tumble-down house behind it, the burnt-out cab, the white of the birches, or the barely-showing tires. You get the point.
Believe it or not, the very next time we took that road, the truck was gone! As if someone lurking on this seemingly derelict and abandoned property, didn't want me to have any more fun!
Robbie, Sidelined
This wreck was on a more developed part of the same highway, in an area with lots of languishing old homes and businesses. Looking at this one, I had to wonder who "Robbie" is, and what's become of him. What might he be doing now, in his life? Are his truck-driving days a thing of the past?
Laid to Rest in the Birches
We found this derelict one steamy summer evening just before twilight, while the sun was still strong, even from its low point in the sky. This rusty specimen had a powerful presence, sitting on a hill, slightly above my vantage point. I have to wonder what jobs this truck pulled off in its lifetime, and what tales it might tell.
All images and text c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.
Classic beauty, great shots, Lynda!
ReplyDeleteA fantastic find! And what a painting that would make...hint hint :)Superb photos Lynda.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post!
ReplyDeleteThere must be a name for the love of human-made artifacts being slowly reclaimed by nature...
For most of my life I've wanted to be free enough to travel and take photos of barns in various stages of decay...
ANNE - Thank you! Hope you're having a sunny week. We are surrounded by snow and ice.
ReplyDeleteJANICE - These old clunkers would be great to paint, IF I did realism! Maybe one day I'll give it a whirl. Right now I'm enjoying abstraction too much!
ALEXANDER - You make a good point. What is it that makes us value NEW things, and often cherish stuff that is weathered or antiquated, as well, while medium-old things don't seem to get much of our attention? I guess it's a fascination with objects and places from other times, in the case of the old stuff. In the case of the new stuff, it's probably just materialism, lol...
ReplyDeleteI also, love old barnyards and out-buildings. I hope you DO get to travel and photograph a lot of them! :)
Love old rust and these are true artifacts as far as I'm concerned! Talk about lucky you, and you did a magnificent job on all of them.
ReplyDeleteGreat work, Linda. I photographed similar scenes in Moose Creek and Whitehorse while I was in the Yukon.
ReplyDeleteLoved the photos. And your notes remind me how images and photo can spur ideas for a short story. For instance, are we certain Robbie is a man?
ReplyDeleteHi Lynda, I love the 3rd shot the most - this one looks really cool - maybe a painting in there??? It looks like a face that is going to say something any minute - doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteNomad Flavor - Yes, I'm lucky when I discover such riches lurking on the roadside. So often, when we LOOK for things, we don't find them. I guess the trick is to be very open so that when a good capture presents itself, we have the wherewithal to take advantage of it. And that means, always bring the camera!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words. I'm glad you liked the shots!!!
Hope I will be as interesting as these wrecks when I am old and rusty! lol...
DAVID - Thanks! How fortunate you are to have been in the Yukon! Just hearing that word gives me the wanderlust--and conjures images of the Old West, the Gold Rush and worldwide adventuring!
ReplyDeleteKATHY - As a matter of fact, we do know a woman named "Robbie" up in Maine. But I can assure you, this is not her truck! She is far too sedate to be driving this, lol...
ReplyDeleteFunny, I was thinking the same thing: that this photo in particular, could be used as a writing prompt. I am going to incorporate them, when I get around to it. As writing IS one of my (more neglected but passionate) interests. Soon I'm going to put excerpts from my books on PV, so it will be a challenge to dig them out and find the "right" passages. You can probably relate to that. :)
PETRA - I've noticed on a number of my auto shots that the front grilles and headlights look like a face, or more specifically, a grimace.
ReplyDeleteYou're right--this truck looked as if it could come alive at any minute, and bite off our heads. Poor little tourists, devoured by a rusted out skeleton of a truck on the side of a rural road...lol...
Something about the angle of the shot enhances that effect, I'm sure.
Lynda:
ReplyDeleteI love fotos like these. Old beat up things with nature in the background for the showing.trails
Happy
Hi Lynda: Great old truck pics! I'm jealous - not really, but I like 'em :-}
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'm not usually one for rusty wrecks out in nature, there's so much character to this truck that one can't help but enjoy it. Interesting, too, the way it ended up just gone!
ReplyDeleteI love it when nature eats old trucks.
ReplyDeleteSWUBIRD - Me too! Very old or very new seem desirable. What's in between seems not to be remarkable. Happy trails to you!
ReplyDeleteOregonArtGuy - I'm sure plenty of these are scattered about the more remote parts of Oregon, no?
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty in Maine: a state with many interesting idiosyncracies of population and landscape!
LANA - Yes, like so many things, it ended up just GONE! I'm glad I caught it before it vanished. A lesson in being prepared and toting the camera.... :)
ReplyDeleteIf nature eats the trucks, maybe it'll leave us hikers alone... :)
ReplyDeleteLove the shots Lynda, they actually would do quite well in our market here in Saskatoon, we sold a few similar in our galleries.
ReplyDeleteThese are just FABULOUS! I too love photographing things like this. There is something so comforting to me when I see an old vehicle or house or anything being slowly returned to the Earth. It feels so right in my body, very organic and soothing. I never wrote that before...and yet it's exactly how I feel. You are such an interesting woman, one who is creative not only in her art but in her thinking. Hugs, Robin :)
ReplyDeleteI love the first one! great shots
ReplyDeleteOh Lynda - I had to chuckle when I first started reading. The truck looked like it had been there for years, and the the thought of someone moving it would have never crossed my mind.
ReplyDeleteGreat intuition you had and glad you were able to catch it. They are classics!
BOB - I've just hung some 13 x 19 photos in a coffee shop here, and will be adding truck shots this week, since a lot of retired guys go there to hang out and get away from their wives, lol... They may like them. (the photos, not their wives :)
ReplyDeleteI do sell many of my images in galleries, but haven't focused too much on the auto and truck shots yet. But I will. Thanks for the encouragement.
Hope you are staying warm. It's so cold here, I can't imagine how frigid it must be up there!
ROBIN - Thank you, my eloquent friend. I really appreciate how positive you are--you seem to radiate positive energy. I hope your cold is long gone. Feeling bad physically doesn't do a lot for our mental harmony, does it?
ReplyDeleteI guess the reason these old things returning to nature might have a soothing effect, is that they remind us of ageless, timeless cycles, and that LIFE is bigger than we are. Do you see it that way?
CARRIE, thank you!
ReplyDeleteKATHY - My intuition serves me well, at least once a year! ha, ha...
ReplyDeleteI am used to things disappearing before I can get back to them with my camera. So I now think in terms of trying to get there BEFORE they move into oblivion, in the great stream of time...
Lynda, my husband is a complete FIEND for old rusted trucks like these! I will have to make sure he sees these photos. Thank you so much for your encouraging words on my blog, and for following! You have some fantastic messages here that I need to keep in mind. :) Especially that we will always have the distractions but we need to listen to the earth! :)
ReplyDeleteCAMILLE - As is MY husband. But he and I like old trucks for different reasons, of course!! ;)
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome, Camille, and likewise. Thanks for following and for reading some of my posts. Yes, we have to listen to the Earth and also to our deepest, most earnest and authentic inner selves. Or we'll be forever spinning our wheels...
Have a wonderful weekend, Camille! And keep up the great work!