Some new photos from Fort Wayne

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

A few weeks ago, this Marge Simpson scarecrow appeared in one of the plots at the Fort Wayne Community Garden on Bluffton Road, across the street from the intersection of Bluffton Road and Sandpoint Road.

Strangely, the scarecrow has an old, broken, dirty, doll baby hanging from her left hand!

The Community Garden is operated by the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department. They rent out garden plots to city residents who want a garden, but don't have the space for one.

 

[gdi]

What an amazingly eccentric place Fort Wayne appears... at least through your lens!

 

[gdi]

Double post...

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This is the entrance to Lindi's Restaurant on Main Street in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. The restaurant just opened last week.

I thought that the front entrance was funny because they painted the light projected by the light above the door onto the front of the building with yellow paint!

The restaurant is owned by Lindi Miller, a chef who has owned several restaurants in Fort Wayne over the years. I photographed it in the evening shortly before sunset.

 

[Rob-F]

Painting the cone of light was clever! It frames the door and makes it more special.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Painting the cone of light was clever! It frames the door and makes it more special.

Yeah, I wouldn't have noticed the place at all if it hadn't been for that painted on 'light.' The building is an ugly industrial-looking cinderblock building that has sat empty for years after the office furniture store that used to be there closed up.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

On the day after Memorial Day, I went shopping at the Kroger store at The Village At Coventry shopping center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I was amused to see several American flags adorning this table and signs advertising that the store was hiring.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

This 122 year old brick building was originally on the west side of Harrison Street, north of Superior Street, in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. In January, 2018, it was moved to the northeast corner of Superior Street and Harrison Street. This location is where I photographed it.

The move is temporary, so the building is still sitting on the carriage that moved it. It will later be moved across Superior Street, where it will become a new Hall’s Restaurant. Hall’s is a local restaurant chain.

The building was originally called the E.M. Baltes Company building, and later was known as the Cambray Building. It is being moved to make way for Fort Wayne's new riverfront park.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Scout is one of the two cats at Hyde Brothers Books in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She looked annoyed because the little boy at the end of the aisle was running around and making noise, despite his mother's efforts to calm him.

Hyde Brothers is an incredible locally-owned used book store on Wells Street in Fort Wayne. As long as I can remember, they've always had at least one cat in residence.

 

[Rob-F]

This 122 year old brick building was originally on the west side of Harrison Street, north of Superior Street, in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. In January, 2018, it was moved to the northeast corner of Superior Street and Harrison Street. This location is where I photographed it.

The move is temporary, so the building is still sitting on the carriage that moved it. It will later be moved across Superior Street, where it will become a new Hall’s Restaurant. Hall’s is a local restaurant chain.

The building was originally called the E.M. Baltes Company building, and later was known as the Cambray Building. It is being moved to make way for Fort Wayne's new riverfront park.

I knew they could do this with frame buildings, but I'm astounded it can be done with a brick building. All that weight, and the possibility of the bricks falling apart! I'm very impressed. I wish I could have been there to see how they got it onto the carriage. Chris, maybe you could be there to document how they will get it off the carriage!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I knew they could do this with frame buildings, but I'm astounded it can be done with a brick building. All that weight, and the possibility of the bricks falling apart! I'm very impressed. I wish I could have been there to see how they got it onto the carriage. Chris, maybe you could be there to document how they will get it off the carriage!

i'm going to try to. I didn't know about it until it had been put on the carriage and moved to the place it is sitting now. Its supposed to be moved again later this year.

 

[robert blu]

I knew they could do this with frame buildings, but I'm astounded it can be done with a brick building. All that weight, and the possibility of the bricks falling apart! I'm very impressed. I wish I could have been there to see how they got it onto the carriage. Chris, maybe you could be there to document how they will get it off the carriage!

Yes, very impressive.
robert

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I'm still working through my backlog of work waiting to be edited.

These basketball hoops and backboards were being sold back in January by the company that is demolishing Elmhurst High school in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

I graduated from Elmhurst in 1994. The school, which opened in 1929, was closed in 2010 and is being demolished now.

 

[CMur12]

This 122 year old brick building was originally on the west side of Harrison Street, north of Superior Street, in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. In January, 2018, it was moved to the northeast corner of Superior Street and Harrison Street. This location is where I photographed it.

The move is temporary, so the building is still sitting on the carriage that moved it. It will later be moved across Superior Street, where it will become a new Hall’s Restaurant. Hall’s is a local restaurant chain.

The building was originally called the E.M. Baltes Company building, and later was known as the Cambray Building. It is being moved to make way for Fort Wayne's new riverfront park.

I really like this, Chris.


Perfect for square composition. The building looks massive, static, and immobile against a blue sky. The even lighting adds to its sense of solidity, too. Then you look down and see that the massive building is no longer anchored to the ground, no longer truly static or immobile. That realization comes with a bit of a jolt.


- Murray

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Another photograph from back in January when fixtures from my old high school were sold off in preparation for the school's demolition.

Hall lockers were sold in sets of eight.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Classroom doors at the pre-demolition sale at Elmhurst High School in Fort Wayne. This happened back in January; the school is being demolished now.

You could buy a door for $25!

 

[traveler_101]

Equipment doesn't really matter unless you're working with something that dramatically imposes itself on the image, like a Holga or a pinhole camera.

I've used Olympus OM, Leica M, Nikon, Canon EOS, Canon FD, and Pentax Screwmount 35mm cameras. For digital, I have used Nikon, Canon EOS, Olympus Micro 4/3, and even a Kodak D-SLR.

No one can tell which camera was used for what. Those who obsess the most over gear do so because they are desperate for a magic cure that will make their photographs 'great.' The problem is, that is something that must come from within.

Yeah I suppose you're right which raises a perennial question. Reading about your recent move to m43 made me wonder whether you still do film photography - b&w perhaps? - and if so what role does film play in your photography? Great photographs by the way. Collectively your work is an impressive document on your homeplace.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Yeah I suppose you're right which raises a perennial question. Reading about your recent move to m43 made me wonder whether you still do film photography - b&w perhaps? - and if so what role does film play in your photography? Great photographs by the way. Collectively your work is an impressive document on your homeplace.

I stopped shooting color film in 2011 and switched to digital for my color work. The reason was that I went on a month-long trip to New Mexico that summer and shot 40 rolls of color transparency film, E-6 film. I hadn't shot any color in a while at that point, had been shooting mostly BW, which I could develop myself. I found that there was not one single E-6 lab left anywhere in the state of Indiana (there used to be four of them just in Fort Wayne, a number of others in Indiana's other major cities). I had to send the film to Chicago, and it cost me over $400 to get it developed, and some came back scratched. That was it, no more color film.

The digital camera I bought then was a Canon 5DmkII, a great camera, but it got too heavy for me to carry it and the lenses I had for it as my health got worse. I had suffered a stroke in 2013. So, this year I sold it all and bought the Olympus Pen-F Micro Four Thirds camera and several lenses. I love it, I can carry this gear pain-free all day and the image quality is great.

Now, all this time, I was shooting black and white film, too. I have not shot any BW film in a year though. I just don't feel well enough to stand on my feet in the cold basement where my darkroom is anymore, and my old film scanner is on its last legs. When it dies, I will not have the money to replace it.

I've also become more interested in mastering color photography, something I overlooked when I was younger because I was more into black and white back then. So, I'm all digital, at least for now.

 

[35photo]

Yeah I suppose you're right which raises a perennial question. Reading about your recent move to m43 made me wonder whether you still do film photography - b&w perhaps? - and if so what role does film play in your photography? Great photographs by the way. Collectively your work is an impressive document on your homeplace.

Why does it matter??? Seriously...

 

[traveler_101]

Why does it matter??? Seriously...

Because I still shoot film and like to hear why others persist in doing so.