I was taking photos of the old fountain court for an hour before I noticed the real story

Last month at the shuttered Midtown Galleria, I was focused on wide shots of the empty space. A local guy walking his dog stopped and asked if I saw the old shoe shine stand tucked behind a pillar. I hadn't. He said his dad worked there in the 80s. That's when it hit me: I was just cataloging decay, not the human pieces left behind. I spent the next two hours finding little traces like that instead. Has anyone else had a moment where a local pointed out something you totally missed?

2 comments

2 Comments

calebh907d ago

Always talk to the locals before you start shooting. They know the spots with actual history, not just the obvious photo ops. It saves you from missing the whole point of a place.

caseywest7d ago

Man, that reminds me of this time I was trying to get a shot of an old train bridge. Spent forever on the framing and the light. Some dude on a bike rolled up and was like, "you know they used to push cars off that thing, right?" Totally changed the vibe. I started noticing all the scrapes and dents on the concrete below. Made the whole photo way more creepy and interesting.