Shaun O'Boyle

Photographs, almost entirely in monochrome, of abandoned industrial and institutional edifices in Pennsylvania and New York. Short essays by others on the historical context introduce each section of photographs --- which are the main thing here, naturally. These get their interest, I think, from the contrast between the composition and the content. The latter is, of course, abandonment and decay: these are places from which the world has moved on, and O'Boyle shows them as they peel, rust and crumble. But the composition containing them is elegant and geometrical; many of them bring to mind Renaissance studies in perspective and ideal form, especially with their vertical grids. The human figure is totally absent. (Unlike some Renaissance studies in perspective and grids.) What now-lost civilization, one is left wondering, built these enigmatic structures scattered across eastern North America? Surely not the degraded and disorganized people found wandering in their shadow...

(The introduction by Geoff Manaugh is recycled BLDGBLOG entries, which is not a bad thing.)… (más)

As a book of photographs, it must be said that there are a lot of stunners here. Shaun O'Boyle has great sense of how to use daylight to best advantage to convey physical form and tone (rather than to exaggerate graphic shadowplay). Both the black & white and color images reveal a sense of place with a confident, but gentle, touch. Furthermore, the photographs are very well presented; given room to show themselves and reproduced very well.

This publication is not presented, however, as an art book. The essays don't dwell on the qualities of the photographer, but expand on the documentary quality of the work by putting the ruins of former industrial and institutional sites into the context of geography and economic history. These essays are spare and somewhat general, but do a very good job of situating an unfamiliar reader with the broader socio-political and socio-economic landscape of the time of their creation. The introductory essay, a rumination on ruination by Geoff Manaugh, brings that context into the present place of industrial ruins in the landscape, physical and spiritual.

I very much appreciated the documentary efforts, but, I was left wanting more immediate context. Between the "very big picture" of the essays and the details captured in the photographs, the middle ground was left out. There are no site maps or floor plans; no archival photos showing the original structures in use; and no development of the suggestions in many of the photos that the sites are used for shelter, exploration and recreation.

For anyone with an attachment to any of the sites documented, the photographic treatment will be treasured. For those interested in a broad view of the remnants of Pennsylvania and mid-Atlantic heavy industry, the book as a whole provides a vivid and accessible introduction. For those in between, who would like to quantify and catalog these sites in a more disciplined way, the book falls short.… (más)