Family operated gas station, from back in the day, with a resident's house in the background.
Barge docks on the Ohio River during dusk, near VA Point Park, Kenova, WV 25530
An old factory during sunset in an industrial park, located in southeast Ohio.
An old ‘Shake Shoppe” that is now an office building, near an industrial area.
“Worth-A-Stop” convenience store & carryout, unoccupied.
An old gas station in Lawrence Co. Ohio, converted to a second-hand store.
Whitwell Elementary School, shutdown, due to the nearby presence of steel manufacturing activities. Testing showed that manganese could be present in the air outside, according to an archive on epa.gov.
A new wire span bridge on the Ohio River, with the shutdown AK steel factory in the background, that used to pollute the air, which shutdown the elementary school.
Motorcycles in front of American Legion Post #433, on a weekend night in the rust belt region.
A refurbished theater in the Ohio River valley, being used for a variety of events.
Content Summary
Ohio Valley lower “Rust Belt” region
Past to Present
The event/subject happening off-campus that I proposed documenting through photography for project two was, the Ohio Valley lower “Rust Belt” region, during Autumn. I attempted to capture the texture of the land as well as the beauty of the people, agriculture, landscape, and cities. It turned in to an evaluation of 350+ photos to look at the past as well as the present and how some of the structures from the past blend into the current landscape. I captured different structures in their current state while, illuminating cities that once formed the foundation of a manufacturing economy of days that have past.
I imagined the project focusing 50% on day time light for the photography as well as 50% during the night, using the available artificial light and natural light during the golden to twilight times of dusk. In the night time photos, I wanted to capture the motion of the land using shutter speed control by setting up on a tripod and utilizing a remote to control the camera’s shutter or time delay setting. Colors in the frame of the pictures were incorporated since they were taken during the Fall season and leaves were slightly changing. I had hoped the leaves would have changed more, when the photos were taken, but do to the due dates of the assignment I focused on old structures and how they had transitioned from the past to the present day. Those elements were placed with in the frame to hopefully convey a since of natural progression and serenity about the land, displaying the Ohio Valley lower “Rust Belt” region in an aesthetically pleasing light.
