Road Trip to Gadsden, AL

About a year and a half ago, my best friend, Will, and I went on a road trip to Gadsden, AL. While there, we found the most remarkable industrial park I've ever seen. Most would probably call it an eye soar or worse, but that's just part of what made it so exciting. The place was clearly in shambles. most of the buildings had been abandoned for a long time and were showing their age. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to shoot before they were closing up for the day. This time, we had a LOT more time.

That top image is a VERY quick composite in an attempt to show a little of the park. We were roughly 8 stories up on the top of a coke factory. We spent about 4 hours total there and we were just getting warmed up. I could spend years in a place like this and never run out of inspiration. The hardest part of shooting in an environment like this is calming down enough to focus on one thing and not get distracted. Both Will and I were wishing we had some models/band to shoot. It helps to slow ones heart rate when you have a job to do.

I primarily shot medium format film (see the last picture, below), so I can't share those right now. Still, stay tuned. Perhaps they'll be coming to a gallery near you!