Dancing With Mr. D... Devilish Places

[Annie M.]

No, I haven’t gone over to the dark side and no, I am not trying to play the devil’s advocate....
but this morning while sifting through my negatives I realized that some of my most powerful and interesting images are from locations that have an association with the devil.... so far I have various viscera, a cauldron, a fist and my personal favorite... a ‘Devil’s Eye’.... ours is a pool of water with a sinister upwelling near the centre... makes for interesting effects with long exposures.

Now it seems to me that this identifying of various aspects of the devil as he intrudes into the
landscape from his subterranean abode is an international cultural phenomena and scattered
over the globe are an assortment of anatomical parts..... the elbows, claws, vertebrae, horns,
paws & thumbs, architectural features.... towers, bridges & gates and let’s not forget the
furniture... chairs, beds & tables.

Now I find these landscape features are usually visually powerful & mysterious... just the kind of subject I like to photograph. I wish to add to my small collection of ‘demonography’ and am interested in compiling a list of ‘hot spots’..... often these places are named and known to locals and do not appear on the maps.... so any locations (worldwide) that you know of that relate to this theme would be sincerely appreciated. Also, does anyone know if someone has done a photographic book on the subject.

Thanks in advance for your kind consideration...
Annie

PS... please no e-mails pretending to be the prince of darkness.... I mention this only because I
am still recovering from a few very.... er ah...... ‘interesting’ e-mails in response to my
mentioning my ‘porn for geologists’ series in a posting last year!

[Gem Singer]

Hi Annie,

I know of Devil's Hole, Nevada and Devils Tower, Wyoming. Are those the type of locations you are referring to?

[Sharon S.]

...the Devil's Postpile (basalt columns) in California. On the other hand, there was an episode of "Long Way Around" on Bravo TV with Ewan McGregor where he and his buddy (on a motorcycle trip around the world) visited a church in Kostnice in the Czech Republic...parts of the church (which was erected over a cemetary) were decorated with the bones of the dead. Not exactly devil-related, but very weird...here's a website.


http://www.kostnice.cz/

[Annie M.]

Yes Eugene, that is precisely what I had in mind.... along the lines of the Devil’s Marbles in
Australia and the Devil’s Arrows in Yorkshire.

Dim..... the most amazing skeletal sculpture I have ever encountered... thanks for the link.

[Ben Crane]

I recall a show in Santa Monica about a year ago which included a number of black and white photographs from 4x5 negatives of geographic features named after the Devil. It is a good show, but I can't remember the guys name now.

A search of the USGS database reveals 1,586 features in the United States that are named after the Devil. That should keep you busy for a while. The names and locates of these features can be found by repeating the search at:


http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/web_query.gnis_web_query_form

[Jim Galli]

Devils Golf Course, and Devils Cornfield are both in Death Valley. If you ever get down this way look me up. If you get to Devil's Golf course, look for my Minolta Spot Meter F that I lost there.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Annie

This is an excellent although somewhat diabolic project. You should internationalize it in order to get a taste of how the Devil looks like in Europe.

If you travel to France you'll find many places were the Devil , "Le Diable" is alive and well.

Just try a web search with the following keywords.

pont du diable (devil's bridge)

crête du diable (devil's ridge)

cime du diable (devil's peak)

Devil's peaks and ridges simply refer to frightening landscapes in the Alps of the Pyrenees.

Devil's Bridge is related to several legends about cheating with the Devil. We have our own in the Jura range.


http://www.cancoillotte.net/Legendes/PontDuDiable.htm

"Cancoillotte" itself, a unique local semi-liquid cheese is a diabolic experience in itself. Worth the travel, as the Green Michelin Tourist Guide could mention.

And quoting form memory, I remember the Diavolezza Mountain Hut in the Bernina Range (Swizterland). Can't remember what was actually diabolic about the hut itself. More an alpine hotel than a hut, BTW. But from there the landscape over the North Face of Piz Palü is... simply diabolic.

[John Kasaian]

Theres also the Devil's Racetrack in Death Valley and loads of places named Diablo(Mt. Diablo for one) all over California. Theres Devil's Bathtub in the High Sierra, a nice hike from Edison Lake, and a place on Highway 33 in Central California called Hell's or Devil's "Something- or- Other"(Half acre? Corner? Kitchen?) used to be on roadmaps but I haven't seen it on a map in years. I recall visiting the area once out of curiosity---a great place if you're a rattlesnake! I'm not aware of anyplace named after the Infernal Revenue Service;-)

[Michael Dowdall]

There is the Devil's Nose in Equador and the Devil's Horsestable Cave in Hell Holes conservation area in Ontario.

Michael

[David A. Goldfarb]

When in New York, you can do some street photography in Hell's Kitchen and then wander up to Spuyten Duyvil.