ku # 493-95 ~ a frenzy
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 10:04AM 
Mini-worlds unto themselves • click to embiggenYesterday I went out on a mission, photography-wise - I have been a bit under the influence of a 'quarry' fever of sorts ever since seeing Burtynsky's Quarries exhibit in NYC.
For a number of years, I have been promising myself to stop in for visit to our local quarry with the intention of seeking permission to do some picturing. The quarry itself is rather invisible. It can only be seen from the air or from one of the trail-less nearby peaks. And, even though I can walk to the quarry - it's that close - I have never gotten around to visiting it.
Unfortunately for me and my picturing desires, I discovered that the quarry is off-limits for photographers - an unwavering directive from the home office in Minnesota. The local onsite office wouldn't even give me the name of the company. Their position was simply, "No chance. Forget it. End of discussion. Here's your hat. What's the hurry?"
So, I moved on and, much to my delight, I found a 100 yard stretch of nearby road that sent me into a picturing frenzy. In little more than 20-30 minutes I created 15 'keepers'. It seemed like everywhere I looked something was screaming, "take me, take me".
It was wet and cold but the wet-ness saturated everything and, even though it was a grey dreary day, the colors were deep and rich. No need to use the H/S slider at all, nature was just doing its thing.
Reader Comments (2)
So why not just enter when there's no one about? See http://www.abandoned-places.com/ for what I mean. Ever since this continent was stolen from the natives the usurpers have had this insane idea of "private property" — as if ownership of something that'll out-exist all of us can be conferred through a monetary transaction! And why not take pictures? Does the company think it owns reflected light?
Mike - I don't think that there is a time when there's no one about, at least not during daylight hours. The quarry is a going concern with over 30 employees. It is definitely NOT an abandoned place.
In any event, I was hoping to do an extended study of the place - different light, different seasons, different times of day, different view points, etc. - not something that could be done on a sneak-in sneak-out basis.