Sunday, February 03, 2013

Inside at the outside

The left for dead buildings that I so often photograph also have interiors you’ll be surprised to know.  Interiors can tell what happened here even better than exteriors because of the human artifacting within.  We can tell if the purpose for the edifice was entirely residential or if there was a commercial aspect to the enterprise.  We may be able to establish the date of the building’s last habitation by what’s left behind or deduce how quickly the departed, well, departed.


Stretching the length of Highway 62 from Rice to Twenty Nine Palms are some pretty sketchy dwellings, ones that compare favorably to those on our West Mesa and Tres Piedras or another California’s beauty spot, the Salton Sea.  Folks living  in places like these must have an odd sense of place or lack thereof.  That summer temps reach 120 adds a dose of unreality to the whole ensemble.  Then there’s the Marine Corps firing range that surrounds this ribbon of hell.  If the heat doesn’t get you a howitzer might.