Progress Sometimes Works Against Photography

This is the kind of subject I would seek out and photograph.  Unfortunately, just about all of these kinds of interesting things, such as these derelict boats that were washed into the wetlands by powerful storms, are now all gone. (click to enlarge)

As many of you who regularly read my blog and look at my images have realized, one of the most enjoyable subjects that I like to photograph is the old, broken, disappearing, rundown, derelict and abandoned infrastructure which includes things from our cultural past.  Unfortunately, those old things are quickly going away, either by being demolished, removed or just disintegrating.  Frankly, many places which used to be very lucrative for photographers like me, are no longer so.  

Small towns and their old architecture, old barns, old railroad infrastructure, old product and business signs, iron bridges, abandoned farm equipment, abandoned cars and trucks, derelict boats, small inlets and harbors that haven't much changed in 100 years are the kind of things that really peak my interest.  Part of it, besides being very photogenic, is that I wish to record our culture and its tools, implements and infrastructure before it completely is lost.  The other part is that I just find those things visually interesting.

That said, yes I know that removing and improving the landscape can be helpful to our environment and I have no argument with that.  We only have one world and we need to take care of it.  I'm just saddened that ripe photographic subjects are continuing to be lost.

Locally, there are three places I've repeatedly gone to photograph old derelict boats, some sunken, some aground from storms, located in wetlands and in small innocuous harbors.  For those of you who may have interest, they are the tiny town of Oyster on Virginia's Eastern Shore, Messick Point in Poquoson, Virginia and Tyler's Beach in Isle of Wight County, Virginia.  In the past, these three quaint places have had numerous derelict boats and old infrastructure that made wonderful photographic subjects.  I literally have hundreds of images of these three small geographical locations over the past 40 years.

As I've gone back over the years, those derelicts, sunken boats and harbors have mostly been cleaned up and transformed.  If I hadn't photographed what was there when I did, those images would have been lost forever.  This saddens me as younger photographers (or any) who wish to photograph these kinds of subjects won't have these places to enrich their vision.  But, time marches on and the only thing that remains constant, as it is said, is change.

Three old wooden homes and a derelict in Oyster, Virginia (click to enlarge)

Oyster, Virginia.  (click to enlarge)

“Fool's Gold”, wrecked by a storm in Oyster, Virginia. (click to enlarge)

The images in this post will never again be available to photographers.  Each of these three locations look nice today, but have lost much of their visual beauty.  

The images below were made at Messick Point, in Poquoson, Virginia.  The area has been totally moderized with a brand new dock and pier system, new parking lots and all of the old things have been removed.  Of course, in the name of progress.

This image was made at the first dawn of the new millennium.  I was shooting with a Leica M6 at the time and I used a negative film to get as much dynamic range as was possible.  All this has been replaced with a brand new pier and a couple dozen docks.  (click to enlarge)

Three old boats washed up in the wetlands at Messick Point in Poquoson, Virginia. (click to enlarge)

Poquoson, Virginia (click to enlarge)

Two derelicts at Messick Point in Poquoson, Virginia. (click to enlarge)

Washed ashore and left to rot in Poquoson, Virginia.  (click to enlarge)

This last set of images were made at Tyler's Beach in Isle of Wight County, Virginia.  The county has now instituted new regulations, new hours one is allowed to be there and strict rules about what boats can be moored and how they must be kept.  Again, the “good stuff“ is gone, unfortunately.

Derelict refloated for restoration and re-use at Tyler's Beach in Isle of Wight County, Virginia.  (click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Derelict and crab pots. Tyler’s Beach. (click to enlarge)

Barely afloat.  Tyler’s Beach, Isle of Wight County, Virginia. (click to enlarge)

This last image is what Tyler's Beach inlet looks like today.  Everything has been cleaned up, Old sunken boats removed and new rules established.  I made this image on Wednesday of this week. (click to enlarge)

If you like photographing the old, broken, rundown, disappearing and all of those things that point to the past and you know places such as these (and they don't have to be a wetland, coastal region or like place), my suggestion is to get out and go photograph them today, or at least as soon as possible.  You just never know when the powers that be decide it's time to clean up these places, remove what they may believe are hazards or unsightly artifacts of our past.  Once they are gone, they are gone forever.

Join me over at my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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