Retro-Grouch
Veteran
Hello, Chris. I have been a long-time "lurker" on RFF, and one of the chief reasons for my return visits has been this Fort Wayne thread. I have finally joined, and one of the first orders of business is to thank you for these pictures!
There's humor here, of course, and much that is quirky and weird. But overall, I see an austere and solemn body of work that very effectively conveys the great American tragedy of the past fifty years. As a resident of rural New Mexico, I know what life is like for small-town Americans in fly-over country. You've captured the essence of that life.
I do hope that you have made arrangements for this work to be archived, ideally with historical/artistic institutions that will preserve it properly. Think of Evans' work, and how it has only grown in importance and emotional resonance with the passage of time. I'm sure that would be the case for your work, as well. In the future, people could turn to it to understand who we were, and who they are, and how they came to live in whatever their world might be.
Keep, shooting, please!
There's humor here, of course, and much that is quirky and weird. But overall, I see an austere and solemn body of work that very effectively conveys the great American tragedy of the past fifty years. As a resident of rural New Mexico, I know what life is like for small-town Americans in fly-over country. You've captured the essence of that life.
I do hope that you have made arrangements for this work to be archived, ideally with historical/artistic institutions that will preserve it properly. Think of Evans' work, and how it has only grown in importance and emotional resonance with the passage of time. I'm sure that would be the case for your work, as well. In the future, people could turn to it to understand who we were, and who they are, and how they came to live in whatever their world might be.
Keep, shooting, please!
Darthfeeble
But you can call me Steve
Here, Here! Second the vote.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Thanks. I know what you mean about New Mexico. I lived there for a couple years, 2006 and 2007. There is an incredible amount of wealth in Santa Fe, and Albuquerque has a large middle class; but the rural areas are impoverished to a degree that I have never seen anywhere in the Midwest.
Most of the wealthy in NM were from out of state and felt no responsibility for the place, nor any concern for the people. Indiana's elites tend to be businessmen and high-paid professionals (doctors, lawyers, etc) who were born here and are unable or unwilling to totally isolate themselves from the local people the way the out-of-state rich who infest Santa Fe have done. I think "infest" is the perfect word. Even in the most downtrodden neighborhoods in Santa Fe, houses cost $200,000+ and houses that Middle class Midwesterners would buy cost $600,000 in Santa Fe. That happens when you have a city taken over by very wealthy outsiders who don't give a damn about anyone else. If housing prices went that high in Indiana, people would rise in revolt!
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
This hand-painted wooden American flag hangs on the side of a little storage shed next to an apartment building on Monroeville Road in the small town of Monroeville, Indiana. A little white chicken statue stands on the bench under the flag.
Monroeville is a small farming community in southeast Allen County, not far from the Indiana-Ohio state line.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Moose Lodge #1480 occupies a two story brick storefront building on the corner of Broadway and Main Street in the small town of New Haven, Indiana. A mural of a moose adorns the side of the building along Main Street.
The Loyal Order of Moose is a fraternal organization founded in 1888. Organizations like the Moose were once very popular in small towns across the American Midwest.
Ko.Fe.
Lenses 35/21 Gears 46/20
Great photos! Small world.
One of remaining in Russia Romanovs during Soviet Moscow. In the moto sphere cage.
https://moskvichmag.ru/lyudi/moskovskaya-krasavitsa-natalya-androsova/
And Native statue. One finger makes big difference from siegie.
One of remaining in Russia Romanovs during Soviet Moscow. In the moto sphere cage.
https://moskvichmag.ru/lyudi/moskovskaya-krasavitsa-natalya-androsova/
And Native statue. One finger makes big difference from siegie.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
The State Theatre is an abandoned movie theare located on the corner of Meridian Street and 13th Street in Anderson, Indiana. The ornate brick building with a Spanish-style facade was built in 1930 and closed in 2008. It has sat empty since then, with a succession of owners promising and failing to renovate the building, whose interior is in bad condition.
In July, 2019 Anderson's city government bought the building with plans to restore it. I made this photograph in March, 2019.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
This is the rear of one of the brick storefront buildings on South Street in the small town of Monroeville, Indiana. The doors have been painted like the American flag.
Monroeville is a small farming community in southeast Allen County, not far from the Indiana-Ohio state line.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Zanesville United Brethren Church on the corner of Broadway and Indiana Street in the small town of Zanesville, Indiana. The wall near the entrance has a cross-shaped window made of glass bricks.
Zanesville straddles the border of Allen County and Wells County, with the northern part of the town in Allen County and the southern part in Wells County. Zanesville United Brethren Church is in the Wells County part of the town.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
This old pickup truck was adorned with balloons that said "Happy Birthday" and "Happy Fathers Day," and the sign next to it said "We Love You Dad." It was in the front yard of a house on the north side of South County Line Road in the Allen County part of the small town of Zanesville, Indiana.
Zanesville straddles the border of Allen County and Wells County, with the northern part of the town in Allen County and the southern part in Wells County.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Surplus Variety Groceries is a store on the east side of Third Street, between Eagle Street and Front Street, in the small town of Burr Oak, Michigan.
There is a framed, faded print of a landscape painting on display in the front window. The window also has a Snoopy sticker from Charles Schultz's Peanuts comic and several 50% Off signs. The handwritten sign next to the painting says: "For Sale: Dog Food, Cat Food, Charcoal Briquettes & Mesquite."
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Mama Mia’s Pizza is a locally-owned restaurant on the east side of Third Street, between Eagle Street and Front Street, in the small town of Burr Oak, Michigan. Mama Mia's is both a pizzeria and an ice cream parlor.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
This building is on the west side of Wells Street, between Commerce Drive and High Street, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As long as I can remember, it has sat abandoned and boarded up with corrugated metal covering the windows and doors.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
This old commercial building sits abandoned on High Street, between Jefferson Street and Main Street, in the small town of Montpelier, Indiana. The finials and decorative trim on the top of the facade are very ornate; this was once a beautiful building, though it is in very bad condition now.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Wilson Auto Parts is a locally-owned auto parts store on Main Street in the small town of Montpelier, Indiana. The store is a Pronto Auto Parts franchise.
There is a "United We Stand" sign with the Statue Of Liberty in the front window of the store. Signs like that one became commonplace in small town storefronts after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. There is also a Deka Batteries sign and a Wix Filters banner in the store windows.
I made this photo in May, 2019. In July, 2020 I visited Montpelier again and found that Wilson Auto Parts had gone out of business. The store was completely vacant and the signs had been taken down.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
A Facebook "Likes" counter stands on top of the ice machine at Fort Wayne's Famous Coney Island Hot Dogs in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It says the restaurant's Facebook page has 52,925 likes when I made this photo in 2018.
I found the sign on the front of the ice machine amusing: "Once I thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken." The ice machine also has a U.S. Marines bumper sticker and a couple of stickers from The Wounded Warrior Project, a charity that helps military veterans.
Founded in 1914, Coney Island is the oldest restaurant in the city. It has been in the same downtown building on Main Street since it opened more than a century ago; and has been owned by the same family since 1916.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
A "Selfie Spot" on the sidewalk in front of Fort Wayne's Famous Coney Island Hot Dogs in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It tells social media addicts where to stand to get a good selfie with the restaurant in the background!
No self-respecting Fort Wayne resident would take a selfie here, though. Everyone knows that only out-of-towners go in the front door at Coney Island! Locals go in the back door and walk through the kitchen to get to the dining area.
Founded in 1914, Coney Island is the oldest restaurant in the city. It has been in the same downtown building on Main Street since it opened more than a century ago; and has been owned by the same family since 1916.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
This sailboat floats in a small pond next to the entrance to a housing development called Chandler's Landing on Saint Joe Center Road on the north side of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The boat has the subdivision's name painted on the back, where the boat's name would normally be displayed.
The pond is too small to actually sail the boat on!
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Two boys ride their bikes on the sidewalk in front of the Post Office on Third Street in the small town of Burr Oak, Michigan.
Third Street is the main business street in this very small town. This is the east side of the street, where most of the town's businesses are located. Most of the storefronts on the west side of the street are vacant. In addition to the Post Office, you can see the Surplus Variety Grocery Store and Mama Mia's Pizzeria.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
One winter morning, I stopped to get some coffee at the Flying-J truck stop in New Haven, Indiana. I saw this bicycle and trailer sitting on the sidewalk in front of the building.
It fascinated me because the trailer said "Homeless Life," and was covered in conservative political stickers. "Trump: Making America Great Again," "Hillary For Prison," "I Did Not Vote For The Obamanation," "Powered By Faith." There was also a POW/MIA sticker and several unusual ones like a "Zombie Hunting License" and "Bigfoot Doesn't Believe In You Either."
I had to meet the guy who rode this, so I waited for him to come out and talked to him. His name was James, he was a homeless veteran from Michigan heading to Florida for the winter.
I don't usually photograph homeless people, since I'd feel like I was exploiting them; but James and his bike trailer were too interesting to not document. Below is a crop showing the details of the trailer.
