Moscow: More abandoned places

Found another wonderful photographic site at Abandoned - most near Moscow. Thanks to Ursi' Blog for this one!

Transmission lines; Big Guy Little Guy. Apparently, electricity is only guided along these lines, not actually carried entirely in the wires. Logic? It can't possibly move along the wire at almost the speed of light without melting the wire.

Industrial skyscapes

These photos aren't mine, by ANY stretch of the imagination, but sent to me from my cousin in southern British Columbia. They're all tremendous cloudscapes from the tornadoes in Southern Alberta last week.

They were too beautiful not to be shared, and their author (unknown) deserves a prize. I've posted them on my other blog, Trying So Very Hard to be Perfect, and you'll have to scroll down because I don't know enough html to fix up the template.

Updates (I'm just drawing OTHER stuff)

Jean-Paul, the author of

Reliques

wrote me and gave me the URL to the new site - apparently the one I had given you was dead. There's some creepy things in those tunnels, Jean-Paul!

I was also catching up with Invisible Threads- Daily Photography, and noticed he has himself published in a DVD: Echoes of Forgotten Places - Urban Exploration, Industrial Archaeology and the Aesthetics of Decay. You're keeping yourself in good company!

European Industrial Landscape

The train ride through the Ruhr Valley in the GDR was right up there as far as visual feasting goes. First observation was that California pollution standards weren't in effect, so nothing was "pretty and hidden".

The somehow congruous admixture of coal-fired industry and Gothic cathedrals - flashback to Koln.

A preponderance of zigzag factory roofing - fading away here in favour of low, flat, warehouse-style factories in designated industrial "parks".

I've found some great links this week to European industrial architecture: StahlArt, black and white photographs, industrial history and architectureby Harald Finster, Aachen, Germany. The site is in both German and "American" - I'm partial to anything mining and steel related. He also includes a very extensive list of links to industrial architecture and history.

The second find (man! it feels like Christmas!) is a French photographer's site Reliques; but unfortunately, the site hasn't been updated since June of last year. He has some compelling photos of a potash plant that I very much enjoy. Some interesting perspectives there.

there's the water towers, the transmission lines

...all these reference photos sitting here, waiting for some time. Bernd and Hilla Becher kinda ruined it for me in a little way, because I didn't even know about their work when I thought about putting this town's watertowers into some aesthetically pleasing framework.

BUT, I'm still busy with copying other people's artwork (the snapshots were BAD) for the Costa Rica/Nicaragua book. You can see bits and pieces of it on Diapositive and Little Black Sketchbook.

What I'm really looking forward to is the opportunity to translate this photo from Work Songs into a charcoal drawing.

Saving up for a rainly day

Water Tower; Leslie and Davis

Gas pump; Queensville.

Old gas pumps; Queensville.