Some new photos from Fort Wayne

Chriscrawfordphoto said:
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My 16 year old son, Mack, photographed last week.
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Great portrait, Chris. I remember seeing your photos of him when I first joined the forum over six years ago. He was just a kid back then, now he's a young man!
 
Rogrund said:
Great portrait, Chris. I remember seeing your photos of him when I first joined the forum over six years ago. He was just a kid back then, now he's a young man!
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Yeah, I joined RFF when I lived in New Mexico in 2006 or 2007 (I can't remember which year!), and my son lived in Indiana with his mother. He was only 9 or 10 when he came out there to visit me, and those were the first photos of him I posted here. Now he is in high school! The time just flies by.
 
united-we-stand.jpg


I found these signs in front of a house on Belle Vista Boulevard in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The top sign says: "United we stand - Ha! Individualism we fall! Fire all government officials and start over! Cut ALL their benefits. No more entitlements." The bumper sticker on the sign says: "Freedom, Liberty & Justice, or die. Re-enact!! The Militia of the several states. Take our country back."

I talked to the man who posted the signs for a while. He said he listens to all the rightwing talk radio shows like Glenn Beck and Mark Levin, and he thinks there will be a civil war soon. He did have some liberal views I agreed with, such as wanting to raise the minimum wage to a livable level of pay, and making businesses bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States.

I made this photo last week.

Here's a close crop of the signs:

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"There Is No Place Like Home."

This old barn is on a farm on Muldoon Road, just south of Ferguson Road, in rural Allen County, Indiana. I photographed it a couple weeks ago.
 
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Haven't had time to add anything new in a while. I made this photo a couple weeks ago in rural Allen County, a couple miles south of Fort Wayne.
 
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This pirate's lair is on Paulding Road, on the south side of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The man and woman who live there are bikers, as the signs at the corner of the driveway indicate. They say, "Ride to live" on one sign, and "Live to Ride" on the other. I shot it a few days ago.
 
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This is the back yard of the house with the pirate flag on Paulding Road, on the south side of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The sign says, "To all trespassers: if you wish to join the others in death, insert your name below and I will notify your next of kin."

Despite the threatening sign, the biker and his girlfriend who live here are actually really nice people. I spent some time talking to them while I was photographing their place. It was late in the evening, as the light was fading at the day's end.

Here's a close crop of the sign:

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The Leaning tree

I think that this is one of the most interesting trees in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I grew up close to it, and as long as I can remember, this tree on the edge of Ardmore Avenue has leaned over the road. It used to lean out even more; but a few months before I made this photograph, a storm tore off the top of the tree!

The now-abandoned Elmhurst High School building is visible in the background of this photograph, which I made at sunset yesterday evening.
 
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This abandoned farmhouse sits behind a new silo on County Road 650E, just north of County Road 700N, in Wells County, Indiana. I photographed it last weekend.
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
What part of Indiana are you visiting?
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Fort Wayne and Auburn :) I am here for a quick two-day trip and leave today. I had little time for shooting, unfortunately. Walked around a bit in the evening in downtown Fort Wayne yesterday. Sadly, there seemed to be few people about much like downtown Detroit in the evenings.
 
v_roma said:
Fort Wayne and Auburn :) I am here for a quick two-day trip and leave today. I had little time for shooting, unfortunately. Walked around a bit in the evening in downtown Fort Wayne yesterday. Sadly, there seemed to be few people about much like downtown Detroit in the evenings.
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Fort Wayne's downtown is dead except during festivals and other events. The problem is that no one lives downtown in Fort Wayne, and there are no retailers there. Just office buildings and government buildings that empty out at 5pm. There have been schemes to attract people downtown with apartments and condo developments but they've all been left nearly empty because the prices charged were way out of line with Fort Wayne's very low housing prices (You can buy a large, nice house for a lot less than the downtown condos were selling for here!).

Too bad I didn't know you were here earlier, I'd have met up with you. No one ever comes to Fort Wayne so i never get to meet any RFF friends.
 
That is what I figured and it is similar to Detroit though Detroit does seem to have certain areas that still attract some pedestrian traffic after business hours, like the river walk. Still, nothing like what a large, vibrant city should have.

The thought crossed my mind to reach out to you, actually, but I expected to have no free time and essentially that was what happened other than about 1 hour downtown yesterday evening. Business trips always sound like good opportunities to go out shooting but I've learned that there is rarely time to do so in my case... Next time I am there, I will reach out for sure, though.

Chriscrawfordphoto said:
Fort Wayne's downtown is dead except during festivals and other events. The problem is that no one lives downtown in Fort Wayne, and there are no retailers there. Just office buildings and government buildings that empty out at 5pm. There have been schemes to attract people downtown with apartments and condo developments but they've all been left nearly empty because the prices charged were way out of line with Fort Wayne's very low housing prices (You can buy a large, nice house for a lot less than the downtown condos were selling for here!).

Too bad I didn't know you were here earlier, I'd have met up with you. No one ever comes to Fort Wayne so i never get to meet any RFF friends.
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Chris, I so like your work. Could you place my name on your order list should decide to publish a book?

I am looking forward to the next set of postings!

eugene
Randburg
South Africa
 
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