Here’s another idea that deserves a full exposé in some future writing: abandoned places. It deserves an essay about why it’s a recurring photo theme where ever I go. The opposite of immersive landscapes, these are true still life pictures, snapshots in time. Each location has a story of its own. Sometimes explicit, but they are usually suggestive with a few ambiguous elements that leave the completion of story to the viewer’s imagination.
Ten years ago, I looked up Nokkvi Eliasson, whose photographs accompanied poetry in the book, Iceland’s Abandoned Farms. He agreed to give us a tour (his first) of some of his finds. Following in his footsteps, today’s photo comes from a random place along a gravel road in the Westfjords. A farmhouse in a field, alone except for the sheep who had taken over the front porch. A realtor in the US might say it had a million dollar view. It was abandoned but not empty, still showing signs of life of its last occupants. The house was intact and undisturbed.
The stories of these places are typically all questions and no answers. Who were the residents? What was life like when they lived there? Why did they leave? Why wasn’t the house reoccupied? Why are their possessions left behind? What does the exposed electric and plumbing tell us about its history? What’s behind the door? And what about the artificial lilies on the counter?
