Plain. Ordinary. Common. Places

[venchka]

If this is the dumbest idea I ever had I will cease and desist.

The discussion about "Uncommon Places", et. al., got me to thinking. There is value in the ordinary places. The places where we live. Play. Work. Things we see everyday yet never see at all.

Down the road, in case someone asks, "What lenses and cameras did old what's His Name use?" I will list that information whenever possible.

First up: Zedler's Mill. Luling, Texas. March 7, 2009. 4x5 Zone VI. Funjinon-W 1:5.6/125mm. 4x5 Arista EDU Ultra 200. Xtol 1:3. 12 minutes.

Please join in.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/d/155661-2/Zedler+Mill-3.jpg


http://gallery.leica-users.org/d/155665-2/Zedler+Mill-1.jpg

[Sanjay Sen]

Wayne,

Your plain, ordinary, common is pretty interesting! Nice images, I like both of them.

[venchka]

Thank you. I hope others will join in.

[Ken Lee]

Sometimes, what strikes us as plain and ordinary (http://www.civilwar-pictures.com/g/albums/government/matthew_brady.jpg) at the time we take the photo, appears special to future generations.

[Miguel Coquis]

Great thread,
I follow...
From my window
http://macoquis.caraldi.com/scaled/Expo%20Mars%2009/Garnes.jpg

[Steve M Hostetter]

Sometimes, what strikes us as plain and ordinary (http://www.civilwar-pictures.com/g/albums/government/matthew_brady.jpg) at the time we take the photo, appears special to future generations.

Mathew Brady is anything but ordinary:)

[nathanm]

"Ordinary" is relative to what you're used to I suppose. Some photos I see around here make me think, "Wow, that looks like home!" and others look so exotic as to be fantasy paintings, but for that photographer it might be "just down the road" to them. The waterfall shot almost reminds me of a place near me, but it doesn't have nearly as nice dilapidated structures next to it.

[venchka]

Zedler's is in the process of being "saved" after 40 plus years of neglect. Zedler's Mill is being turned into a park. I'm glad we got there ahead of the crowds.

[venchka]

Hey folks! Large format photos up here. I started two seperate threads because I had some small format photos that fit this theme. Sorry for any confusion.

A general geographic location of where the photo was taken would be nice.

[N Dhananjay]

Sorry for the rotten scan quality. Cheers, DJ

24036

24037

24038

[Richard M. Coda]

Almost everything I do is like this, especially the past few years. Rather than post here, view my website or blog for pics.

[bgh]

What I find so intriguing is when the apparently mundane, ordinary sorts of places turn out to have interesting layers of meaning back behind them. Here's a very modest little brick building, only about 20 feet square or so, just off the road in New England and alongside a small stream/river.

Turns out to be, as far as I can tell, the oldest existing hydroelectric plant in the state.

Alas, I'm rather like the guy on the Weather Channel who covers the really bad storms--when I show up someplace with my camera, it generally means that something old is going away. In this case, this little powerhouse remained, but the dam next to was pretty badly deteriorated, and was removed and the stream restored back to something close to its 19th century alignment. However, it does allow me to see some rather extraordinary ordinary places.

Bruce

Tech info: 4x5, Ilford Delta 100, aged ex-Galli Schneider 210 lens, f45 at 1 second.

[Jeff Graves]

Here is one that caught my eye. It's the backside of a trendy shopping mall.

[Miguel Coquis]

Here is one that caught my eye. It's the backside of a trendy shopping mall.
Jeff, clouds are beautiful in this pic !

[Delft]

I pass this site regularly on my bike.
http://members.tele2.nl/boswinkel2/delft01.jpg

[Filmnut]

Nice images, everyone!
The thing that intrigues me about "ordinary places", is that like everything else, there're transient, what is an ordinary photograph of an ordinary place, becomes something special when its' gone.
There are many "ordinary" places that I never photographed, because there're so ordinary, but now I wish I had, because there're now gone!
Keith

[walter23]

http://www.ashphotography.ca/zenphoto/albums/alt-processes/houzesfive700.jpg

[Ole Tjugen]

Define "Ordinary. Common."

None of these pictures could have been shot within 250 miles or so from where I live, and what is "common and ordinary" to me might be extreme and extraordinary to most others.

But regardless of our location, many of us strive to show the extraordinary in the ordinary; the unfamiliar in the familiar; the disturbing in the familiar things you see every day.

Here's an example of a small "forest" - not really a forest, but a boggy bit that hasn't been properly grazed in 50 years or so. That means it's full of water-sick birch trees, since it's a little bit too high up for oak:

http://www.bruraholo.no/bilder/skog-norm.jpg


To summarise: I don't accept the concept "ordinary". I have seen flat lands, and have
promised myself that I will never even consider living in a flat area.

[Jim Cole]

Back alley, Flagstaff, Arizona

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3464/3371662342_e6e43f2ddc_o.jpg

[Steve M Hostetter]

more then once it was said that I couldn't shoot the side of a barn :D so here's my attempt , 8x10" 4127 scan neg 165mm I think Meyer's Barn

[venchka]

Ole hit on a good point: One person's bland, familiar and ordinary may be another person's exotic and new.

I moved to Texas in September, 2005. I started taking more pictures in 2006. I already have a growing collection of things that aren't there anymore. I missed many more. I try to make myself expose more film.

[Michael Graves]

I walk past this place every day now. It doesn't look too much different than it did when I lived here 25 years ago. Hand-held with an old 3.24x4.25 Zeiss Contessa Nettal using a 135mm Tessar.

[jnanian]

snow rain sun cold or hot
the clothes dry over this empty lot
( every day )

[Jeremy Moore]

4x5 shots from my Loop 288 series.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3051/2301952709_9cec0ae7df.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2245/2302750896_f59faa6ffb.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/2301954147_9a1d9b5979.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/2302752104_1c3f78fb78.jpg

[jnanian]

...

[cobalt]

Plain and ordinary, I suppose...

4x5 Speed Graphic, 127mm Kodak Ektar, Tmax 100, Acufine, hand held.

[venchka]

cobalt,

Nice. I have exactly the same outfit and film. Got to get out more.

[Dakotah Jackson]

Your 'plain, ordinary common place' may well be the next guys great out of the way or exotic location.

I usually shoot close to home. Through the years 'close to home' has changed as we moved. Always with an eye to being close to places I wanted to photograph.

The current and last move is to a place we love. Bring outside this time of year is noisy with the geese and sandhill cranes flying overhead. The dove are loud as are the two owls in the windrows by the pasture. The sound of neighbors planting will be on for a few days and then cease until they spray the crops and then again in late summer/fall when they harvest... being drowned out then at times by migrating geese again.

Some nights it doesn't get really dark due to the Northern Lights. Summertime it doesn't get dark until around midnight and then 4am is almost light enough to read by. Long summer days make for good photography and the light is magic with the clean, clear air.

Ponds and lakes along with dozens of old abandoned farmsteads to photograph make it nice and great neighbors make it even nicer. Watching mink and beaver play on the ponds while ducklings learn to follow the parents to keep safe is nice. Seeing Grebes dancing across the water is great entertainment and listening to loons as well as hawks is better than the symphony of a good orchestra. Nothing quite like watching Bald Eagles fly over the barn in the morning while watching the mist rise off the pond across the road. Deer in the yard make me be sure to fence off the garden and the dog takes care of the raccoons if they decide to show up. Raising pheasants is fun and watching some wild turkeys and partridge strut is relaxing.

Just the place to be with a Deardorff and a cherry soda pop on a warm summers evening or curled up in front of the corn burning stove when it is 30 below zero outside... and I don't have to go out in it.

Plain, ordinary, common is a great place to be.

[jnanian]

...

[creep]

just outside the studio ;) http://creep.lt/linkout/tv_creep007.jpg

[creep]

ups, its big. hope you large-formaters have large monitors ;)

[Duane Polcou]

I have seen flat lands, and have
promised myself that I will never even consider living in a flat area.

Go suck a fjord.

[Rodney Polden]

...
Numinous! What a great atmosphere

[jnanian]

Numinous! What a great atmosphere

thanks rodney!

john

[Joe O'Hara]

Parking lot of a rather down and out shopping center in Cinnaminson, NJ.

An intriguing thing about images like the ones on this thread is that they
become more interesting as time goes on and the frozen instants of time
become more remote from the viewer's experience.

[bvstaples]

For no particular reason...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3329/3338727122_217dd31b63.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3201/2672951471_288ee9220b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3521/3898074692_ba002ddb97.jpg

[venchka]

Joe,

I'm not alone in photographing lonely urban places.

[Vaughn]

An Old Pump House, 2009
Arcata Bottoms
Humboldt County, CA

From a scanned contact print

Camera: Speed Graphic w/ magnifier lens
Film: Type 55 (out-dated...1985)
Paper: Kodak medalist (out-dated...1975)

[paulr]

I pretty much only photograph ordinary places.
At least ordinary to me ... they're scenes i walk by all the time.

This is an old one.

http://www.paulraphaelson.com/portfolios/wilderness/05misty_ok.jpg

[jnanian]

...

[Jim Galli]

http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/SandmanMotel2.jpg
mr. sandman, bring me a dream.............

[venchka]

There you go again. Depth of field out the Wazoo! I like it! If I had pictures of all the motels my folks and I stayed in back in the 50s & 60s I could put a book together.

Thanks Jim!

[timing]

Oooh, a subject I can take part in...

Under the Bridge - Belgrade, Serbia

Deardorff 4x5 special, Optar 135mm (off the Crown Graphic), Efke 100 film, Rodinal 1+100 stand developed.

[Don Sparks]

Co-op...hwy 411...Tn.

[Richard M. Coda]

These are fairly recent...

Tires, Phoenix, AZ, 2009, 11x14" contact print (sorry for the bad digi-pic)

Rick's Hitch Works, Phoenix, AZ, 2009, 11x14" contact print

Shadow Abstract, Mustang Library, Scottsdale, AZ, 2008, 8x10" contact print

[aloyyolaaloy]

the front view from my flat in Singapore, Toa Payoh 7-8pm
sinar 4x5 with a 210mm

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2650/3966111262_f937fd396a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/aloyyolaaloy/3966111262/sizes/l/)

[Gary L. Quay]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3300/3617280171_30c02b914e.jpg

Camera: Kodak Commercial Studio
Lens: 12" Kodak Ektar
Film: Ilford HP5 developed in Agfa Rodinol 1:50. Printed on Kentmere VC FB, and scanned.

[harrykauf]

around the house in Wandsworth, London:


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2002/1582537412_6b72f323a5.jpg

this is where they shot a scene from Clockwork Orange
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3140/2563349204_de9b5175fc.jpg

http://www.cyber-cinema.com/british/ClockworkOrangeF_BRT.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1416/919286176_8dacb04ed0.jpg

[Chris C]

I've been heading down this path for a while. My 160NC finally arrived last week so I've had a bit of a play with it. Almost have to relearn my knowledge of light shooting colour neg. I'll get there though.


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2538/4003978334_e1c0f00a26.jpg

[mikebarger]

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=31333&d=1253396023

I really like this Don.

Mike

[Chris C]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3140/2563349204_de9b5175fc.jpg

This is a great image. I'm finding out it's not too easy but you've got a good eye.

[Kirk Keyes]

http://www.cyber-cinema.com/british/ClockworkOrangeF_BRT.jpg


"Well, go on, do me in you bastard cowards! I don't want to live anyway, not in a stinking world like this!"

If only Kubrick had included a shot with the McDonalds sign in the background...

What a fantastic movie.

[venchka]

When he was on, Kubrick was very very good.

[Kirk Keyes]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3300/3617280171_30c02b914e.jpg

I guess that is common. I drive by there on the way to work every day.

[Kirk Keyes]

When he was on, Kubrick was very very good.

It could have been interesting to have Alex and his Droogs dress up like Ronald McDonald - big red noses, big red hair, red and white striped clownsuits, and a codpiece...

[ThePhilosopher]

My first shot developed in my roller drum and base (I had some problems getting the negative out of the drum), but it's nice and even development with only using 150mL of chemicals - I really need to take the time to dry my negatives in a damp room...Next stop, C-41ville.

Crepe Myrtle (click for full size):
http://www.thoughtful-imagery.com/Film/4x5Tests/TMAX_45_016_s.jpg (http://www.thoughtful-imagery.com/Film/4x5Tests/TMAX_45_016.jpg)

[jnanian]

...

[ThePhilosopher]

The gas meter in my backyard:
Schneider Xenar 150mm f/5.6, f/5.6, 1/30, Plus-X 125 @ 100, 20 years past expiration date
http://www.thoughtful-imagery.com/Film/4x5Tests/PlusX_45_002_s.jpg

[Andrew ren]

Co-op...hwy 411...Tn.

Don,
I like it!
very graphic.

Andrew

[Richard M. Coda]

A few more... all from Phoenix. All 8x10.

[Chris C]

I've been working on a new look, and I think I'm slowly getting it down.


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3483/4048505641_6662260df6.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2728/4048503271_2f338d6596.jpg

[Chris C]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3491/4070482661_6831a8cbf9.jpg

[jnanian]

...

[Keith Pitman]

Bailey, CO

[Craig Moyer]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2746/4148650051_0d986d8b96_b.jpg

[Colin Graham]

Some recent roadwork on 112 between Joyce and Clallam Bay, WA. The landscape cloth they use to control drainage into the Strait of Juan de Fuca makes the whole construction zone look like a giant Christo installation.


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2503/4161264508_f9dbc77044_b.jpg

[Richard M. Coda]

One of my first attempts at color way back in 1983.

I used to work night shift in the Advertising Dept. for A&P Supermarkets on Getty Ave. in Paterson, NJ. This is what it looked like coming out of work on those frequent occasions where we would have to work a double shift. Decided to bring the 4x5 in one day.

Parking Lot, A&P, Paterson, NJ, 1983

[Michael Graves]

Here's a place I drive past a couple of times a month. This time I had my Crown Graphic with me. I don't know if I would like it better if I came back in the summer when there are leaves on the trees or not.

[Jiri Vasina]

Some recent roadwork on 112 between Joyce and Clallam Bay, WA. The landscape cloth they use to control drainage into the Strait of Juan de Fuca makes the whole construction zone look like a giant Christo installation.



Colin, I'm not a fan of those "Plain ordinary common places" photos, but I do follow them up. And once in a while something really stunning pops out - like the one of yours here. It's amazing how beautiful and interesting image you can create from so common a view...

Jiri

[Gary L. Quay]

On Burnside.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3453/3861882191_458723fe72.jpg

Camera: Deardorff V8 with 8x10 back.
Lens: 12" Kodak Ektar
Film: Ilford HP5+ Developed in Kodak HC-110.
Printed on Ilford MGIV RC paper.

Bagdad Theater

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3569/3656626593_9068eb8ece.jpg

Camera: Calumet C-1 with 8x10 back
Lens: 12"(?) Hyatt's Rapid (Made about 1880)
Film: Ilford HP5 developed in HC110 and contact printed on Kentmere Fineprint VC FB

[Colin Graham]

Thanks Jiri!

[D. Bryant]

When he was on, Kubrick was very very good.
Kubrick was always very good - he never made a bad movie. :)

Barry Lyndon was a box office flop but a masterpiece.

His last movie, "Eyes Wide Shut", was also mis-understood.

His movies required the viewer to pay attention.

Even though "Clockwork Orange" was a great adaptation of the novel I enjoyed the book much more: Burgess demanded more from the reader than Kubrick did from the viewer by comparison.

Don

[Jan Pedersen]

Could not say it any better than Jiri, there is nothing plain and ordinary about your work Colin. What a well seen and executed interpretation of what most, at least me would miss driving by a thousand times.

[D. Bryant]

Somewhere in the Castleberry Hills art district, Atlanta, GA.

Original image size 3.9x6.7 inches or 7815 x 13420 ppi.

Don Bryant

[Chris C]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2517/4172872263_0e4041d916.jpg

[AFSmithphoto]

Here are some of my favs. The last one is from Vermont, where I grew up. A perfect example of beauty that was commonplace. So much so that I never saw it until I left and came back.

[Mike Lopez]

AFSmithphoto: I like that first one a lot. Excellent work.

[AFSmithphoto]

Thanks Mike, its one of my favourites too!