civilized ku # 33 ~ a walk in the forest
Monday, June 11, 2007 at 08:25AM 
Traces and evidence of a different world • click to embiggenA few days ago Aaron 'discovered' - on Flickr - that my little village of Au Sable Forks has a 'secret' buried in the woods. His excitement, photography-wise, knew no bounds. So, yesterday, around 12:30pm, I got a phone call that he was at the mill and I should get my butt over there asap.
The abandoned mill is big rambling affair which I would estimate to cover about 400-500,000 sq. ft. It has been abandoned for almost 40 years. When it was first built, it was an iron ore mill. This region, extending from Lake Champlain, was the first 'steel' capital of North America - I'm talking Revolutionary War era - Benedict Arnold owned a mine here and many of his war exploits (the good ones) were conducted on Lake Champlain. He is honored around these parts as a hero with an astrisk. When the 'steel' industry moved elsewhere, paper became king at the mill until competition and environmental issues shut it down.
The mill is truly 'buried' on the forest - 40 years of grow has hidden it almost entirely from view even thought it sits on the banks of the West Branch of the Au Sable. 
Aaron in one of the mill basements • click to embigggenWhile we were picturing, fly fishermen were in the river and we couldn't see them unless we hacked our way right up to the river bank through dense brush and trees, Needless to say they couldn't see the us or the mill either.
I came back from our walk in the woods with quite a number of good pictures. Viewed together they create, IMO, an interesting 'world'. So, it is my intent for this week on The Landscapist is to post one diptych a day. There will be a minimum of words, at least on the diptych entries, and emphasis on 'creating a world' based on the mill. I want to see if it is possible, on the web (the 'flow' thing and all), to actually 'create a world' with a series of pictures.
The presentation will visually follow this post - a broad view together with a more intimate view.
So, please let me know what you think as the series progresses.
Reader Comments (3)
This seems like a great location for you world-building project. In terms of the format you described, however, I'm not sure which image you consider more "intimate." The left is in the open, but focuses on a few remnant objects nearly at our feet. The right appears to cover about the same square footage, but the debris is in a clearly defined setting that contains it (and us, by implication). So these two aspects are at odds if only one image is meant to be intimate.
If the series to come can be likened to a novel, then I like starting out not with a conventional wide overview, but right in the middle of the "action."
Steve - thanks for the comments and feedback.
The picture on the left is actually of a very small area - the objects are no more than a couple/three inches in diameter. They would be barely discernible in the much larger rubble field in the righthand picture.
The picture on the right is not broad in the 'grand' sense - rather, only by association with its counterpart on the left.
Looking forward to more photos from this location! - JR