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Sunday 20 March 2016

Key to the Infinite

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Treeline | by LowerDarnley

Treeline. Andover, Massachusetts.: photo by Jim Rohan, 13 March 2016

Cardboard John Wayne | by LowerDarnley

Cardboard John Wayne (Monument Valley): photo by Jim Rohan, 20 March 2016

Window Display | by LowerDarnley

Window Display (Wakefield, Massachusetts): photo by Jim Rohan, 19 March 2016

Headlights | by michaelj1998

Headlights. Oceanside, California.: photo by michaelj1998, 1 March 2016

5507 | by michaelj1998

5507. Los Angeles, California.: photo by michaelj1998, 9 March 2016

Kress | by michaelj1998

Kress. Los Angeles, California.: photo by michaelj1998, 25 February 2016

Parrots heading east | by michaelj1998

Parrots heading east. Los Angeles, California.: photo by michaelj1998, 3 March 2016

Roadhouse | by LowerDarnley

Roadhouse (Dunstaffnage, Prince Edward Island): photo by Jim Rohan, 19 March 2016

Spiritual Power #3 | by LowerDarnley

Spiritual Power #3 (Gloucester, Massachusetts): photo by Jim Rohan, 15 March 2016

Searria's 2000 | by efo

Searria's 2000. Banquet hall, Philadelphia.: photo by efo, 10 March 2016

Searria's 2000 | by efo

Searria's 2000. Banquet hall, Philadelphia.: photo by efo, 10 March 2016

1435 | by efo

1435 (Philadelphia): photo by efo, 11 March 2016

Ridge Home Furnishers | by efo

Ridge Home Furnishers (Philadelphia): photo by efo, 13 March 2016

Homelite Chain Saws | by efo

 Homelite Chain Saws (Scituate, Rhode island): photo by efo, 27 February 2016

Ballouville Mill | by efo

 Ballouvile Mill (Ballouvile, Connecticut): photo by efo, 28 February 2016

Ballouville Mill Nº 2 | by efo
 
Ballouvile Mill No. 2 (Ballouvile, Connecticut): photo by efo, 28 February 2016
 

Cooler (City Center, Richmond, California): photo by efo, 5 March 2016


Cooler (City Center, Richmond, California): photo by efo, 5 March 2016

 
Key to the infinite (City Center, Richmond, California): photo by efo, 5 March 2016
Key to the Infinite

Beyond the remembering
the free fall
from the dull cage, day
labouring, in deep
drudgery, and failure
of fellow feeling, as may well
follow, into the shadows
the rain reaches
while the old couple begin
the perilous descent to the street

again, and so startled
from a wet covert
along the steep hillside path
the young deer
orphaned by traffic assassinage
unceasing on the Ave
stands stock still, ears panned
scanning toward
the lethal corner beneath

all those headers
however many years ago
and she said funny thing now it's 
like walking into a room
and not knowing why you're there
every day
for the rest of your life



Key to the infinite (City Center, Richmond, California): photo by efo, 5 March 2016


Key to the infinite (City Center, Richmond, California): photo by efo, 5 March 2016

Memorial #1 | by LowerDarnley

Memorial #1 (New York City): photo by Jim Rohan, 17 March 2016

Memorial #5 | by LowerDarnley

Memorial #5 (Melrose, Massachusetts): photo by Jim Rohan, 16 March 2016


Because I care | by michaelj1998
Because I care.
Los Angeles, California.: photo by michaelj1998, 9 March 2016


Because I care | by michaelj1998
 

Because I care. Los Angeles, California.: photo by michaelj1998, 9 March 2016

Because I care | by michaelj1998
Because I care. Los Angeles, California.: photo by michaelj1998, 9 March 2016
 

5 comments:

awbradley said...

who's "efo"? i found searria's, but where's ridge home furnishers?

tpw said...

Beautiful poem, esp. that killer ending. Ruins have a sad beauty.

TC said...

Terry, thanks very much. Re. ruins, isn't that, in fact, what America now is? Notwithstanding the massive attempt to money-over the cracks with pavement and "programs", yes, this country is increasingly a ruin, where nothing could feel at home again unless it were burning gas and rolling on wheels.

(That corner where the poem takes place also happens to be the corner where four years ago, actually two weeks short of four years ago yesterday, the Fatal Accident Team discovered me, unconscious, with permanently bent frame, half my head gone, lying in a pool of blood, having paid the penalty for being a pedestrian in an automotive culture).

The few artists who confront this ruin with stark b+w images of itself are not surprisingly somewhat less than well known. One of the best is efo, who is based hereabouts but, obviously, also travels, and so covers the whole crumbling national waterfront. Questions about who he is would seem secondary to questions about what he's doing. But without violating his project, I can tell you that I have guessed what his name is, but don't want to give it, because he doesn't. If forced to guess, I'd suggest his home is in glorious El Cerrito, but that would be mere speculation.

a.w., as it's the efo images of Philadelphia, that seem to be of interest to you...

The Ridge Furnishers diptych, like the Key to the Infinite diptych (the key to the photo and the post and the infinite happened to be inconveniently situated at the junction of the two halves), proved very hard to mount, even on the page I have made wide for just that purpose.

With Ridge Furnishers, I finally settled for the smaller size. Not happy with that, but there proved no other way.

Ridge Furnishers, as the photo indeed suggests, is no longer in business.

The original efo shot contains a street sign on the corner. Sherwood Street.

So that would make the location Ridge Avenue/Sherwood Street.

Google Idiot Earth knoweth not of said location, nor of latter street.

However, this proximate stretch of Ridge Avenue undoubtedly reflects something of the current tone of the neighbourhood.

Ridge Avenue, North Philadelphia

Interestingly, some years back I posted, in two parts, a portfolio Dick Swanson shot for the EPA, in the early 70s.

Dick Swanson, Philadelphia, 1973 (I)

Dick Swanson, Philadelphia, 1973 (II)

A few years after those posts went up, they became the basis of a sizeable Reddit thread, in their Philadelphia discussion room.

STEPHEN RATCLIFFE said...

like walking into a room
and not knowing why you're there . . .

Headlights
Roadhouse
Banquet hall
Ridge Home
Cooler

always great to see efo's photos Tom, and these others, and the poem . . .

TC said...

Thanks, Steve... Yes, what else could we ever need...