Looking forward to what's left behind

Old University of Colorado hospital, slated for demolition.

I haven’t been out among the places left behind in a while.

Stephanie has been marathon training for a race next week. We’ve both been trying to get bike rides in, and not doing as well as we should. Work has been the curse of the drinking class, as always. But I miss the places that were too hard to keep, and have been left behind.

Abandoned a short while, now expensive apartments.

The odd thing is, with the rapid gentrification of Denver, the abandoned isn’t something I have to go far and look for anymore. It’s in my neighborhood. But with the way new buildings are going up, you have to look fast. Things change rapidly. I’ve only been here a short while, and it’s already a different city than the one I moved in to.

I miss those places people have left, though. I should get out and find more of them this summer.

After the bike tour, I’m wanting to go get some shots. Big negatives, medium format at least, large format as often as I can. There’s a lot of this state and the west in general I have not seen yet.

The group Steph and I went to shoot the airplane graveyard with is toying with a zine. I suggested it, as I really want to do a zine, but I don’t think I can carry one on my own. I think having a group gives it a better result. So maybe we’ll see about some of those abandoned places that I love so much. Cover some of the change that is rampant. Small towns that are emptying out with their populations moving on are leading to more forgotten places under the big sky to explore in the future.

Soon enough I’ll be lugging gear to the 4Runner and sending it bouncing down trails. I want to spend more time in the back of the Runner, staring at a big sky before we go to sleep somewhere in the woods so we can get up early and shoot a ghost town or mine in the perfect light of dawn. I’m looking forward to falling asleep to the sound of rain on the roof of the Toyota and waking up to coffee made on a camp stove. Getting up and clambering around a place that smells of pines and decay of buildings and maybe the touch of sweetness of the ash of long gone coal fires.

There’s a great deal to be captured in the next few months. Having to wait out the rain has made me antsy, pouring over maps and websites to find new things and places to fall in love with. I’m looking forward to it all.

Looking forward to what's left behind