I love to photograph old rusty and worn-out things. They have texture and grit. Old barns, shacks, vintage cars and farm equipment. A recent rambling through Sharon South Carolina gifted me a visual sensory overload of great rust and grit.
I have driven through Sharon many times but never took the time to just run around the backroads that make up the small York County town. Just by taking a right turn on a side road, you may discover an old shack abandoned with curtains still in the windows, shredded by time, or a tractor that dates back to the 1940’s sitting in a field.
These rambles are my time to re-energize and re-center by finding beauty in what some would say is broken and ugly. If you have the eye and the discernment, there is beauty in the old and broken. Each item and place tell a story of its own. You just have to imagine what story it’s trying to tell.
When I see an old rusty truck sitting in front of a barn, I think of all the roads it drove down. What was it like during the time it was used. Who drove it and what they were hauling. Did its proud owner once hand buff the chrome to a blinding shine? Did sweaty arms load watermelons into the bed to sell July after July? Who lived in the old shack with the curtains torn and faded in the windows. Can you see the faces of those who may have lived there? Noses pressed against glass to catch the first glimpse of Grandpa? A worried hand lifting the curtain yet again to scan the rutted drive? Where does your imagination take you?
I hope you will take some time to take a back road and see what time has forgotten. Turn left instead of going straight. You might find a surprise around the corner. Even a Yeti dressed as a farmer.
