Decay: Andrew Wyman

     Civic Center Park, across the street from the Colorado State Capital in Denver, once hosted such prestigious events as the Democratic National Convention. More recently it was the site of the Occupy Denver movement (https://www.facebook.com/occupydenver). In the beginning of this movement there were people there that truly believed in what they were doing. Although, as time passed less and less of the true believers “occupied” this location.
     Now, on any given day, Civic Center Park is home to many of Capital Hill’s drug dealers and homeless. What these people leave behind is all one can see in the park at night.  While many in this nation still support and believe in the 99%, this trail of trash shows me the decay of a movement and of a society.

Decay: Matthew Moore

Life About To Be Reborn © 2012 Matthew Moore

Decay is an often ignored process, perhaps because it can be disgusting as well as boring in some cases. Yet if you think about its process from a bigger point of view it might just become exciting or exhilarating.

Decay takes something that once was alive or refined but is now dead or has outlived its purpose and turns it back into its raw state so that it can once again be alive or refined into a new purpose. An over simplification of this cycle is that of bread. For example, a seed is planted, it grows into a plant, it's harvested, crushed, and ground into flour, then mixed with water, and baked into bread to give life again.

Decay is just part of death but death is part of life.  When thinking about such things Emily Dickinson's poem I reason, Earth is short comes to mind…

I reason, Earth is short --
And Anguish -- absolute --
And many hurt,
But, what of that? 

I reason, we could die --
The best Vitality
Cannot excel Decay,
But, what of that? 

I reason, that in Heaven --
Somehow, it will be even --
Some new Equation, given --
But, what of that?

As Dickinson portrays, life is short and no one or thing can escape the inevitable—that death is the great equalizer and death as well as decay are only a part of life.

Decay: Scott Kotelnicki

Decay is not always the sign of death but often the beginning of life.

In response to the classes comment about adding a grape to the bottom right to balance the color of the scene. Here it is.  I had shot several that way during my shoot and have added this version now.  I did like this look better except the shots have a strong light on the grapes and drew your eye towards the unfocused grape on top. The version you see now I used some post production to burn the grapes out. This dropped the contrast of that area and brings your eye back to the focal point of the raisin. Thank you for your crit!

Staying with the beauty of nature I shot this still life on my dining room table. Shooting with a the window blind open I had only residual light.  I waited patently for one beam of light to cross my scene. This was one of the first shots before the sunbeam crosses my set. When the beam finally did cross I didn't like the harsh contrast it left on the back of the raisins. Even with my reflector I was unable to fill in the area.  Here the lack of a harsh light lowered the contrast and gives an even light across the seen. The reflector I used was gold to bring a warmer glow.  Below is a snap shot of set-up. You can see the small sun beam on the chair driving its way towards my set-up.

Decay: Shalia Boggs

Decay.  Old and weathered.  Dead or dying.  When I think of decay, I immediately think of the worst.  However, it doesn't always have to be terrible.  Decay can sometimes be quite beautiful.

The photo I've taken is one of driftwood.  It sits hidden behind trees in full blossom that are full of vibrant life, almost like the ugly duckling.  But look closer and you'll find beauty in the lichen that live on this tree.  Old and weathered is the beautiful swan.

Decay: Brandon Chapin

The simplicity of decay spreads from large to small.  This little weathered fire hydrant is a link to more decay then it looks.  Think about the fact that when a fire rages through a forest or a house burns down they are decaying in a way.  The fire truck that would drive to the scene is also slowly decaying, the engine is wearing and the tires are balding.  Then, that truck will come to this little decaying hydrant to use its water to put out the fire that is raging.  Everything and everyone around us is slowly decaying and will eventually die or crumble.  The trick is to find the beauty in these things and extracting it. © Brandon Chapin Photography.

Decay: Mike Bogner

     It isn't uncommon to see a bicycle, locked to a bike rack or pole with no wheels or totally rusted over like it has been abandoned. Who's bike is this? If no one claims this decaying heap of metal, can I? Many questions can be asked with little instantaneous answers.

     In researching on bike theft, not in attempts to become a bike thief but to better understand and prevent, I came across some videos made by Casey Neistat and his brother. I enjoy many of his videos, but this one, The Ethics of Stealing Bikes left me still a bit unclear. Why was that one ok to steal? It was still locked with two locks. How is one to really know if it is abandoned or not. I guess one could leave a note to ask or watch the bike. But that leads to more questions as to how long? 

     The point I'm getting at is that any bike is someones bike, whether it is mine or not. By just saying it is "no bodies bike" doesn't justify it. To me a locked up bike means it is someones, whether or not how much of the bike is still connected to it.

Decay: Valerie Morris

When hearing the word decay, most pictures are disgusting images. You wouldn’t think that anything beautiful could come from this word, but in some cases, you could be proven wrong.

I found inspiration to photograph urban decaying buildings from an article called 100 Captivating Examples of Urban Decay Photography. This article showed me some abandoned buildings or unkempt alley has beauty to be found.

 For example, my photograph above is a building that has been abandoned. As of today, the white plaster of the building is tumbling off on to the cement. Revealing red bricks, which may have never been known if it were kept up to perfect condition.

Also to the right of the foreground, there is an image that appears to be a broken human hand. To me, the hand represents the role people have contributed to the carelessness we have shown this world we live in.

Decay: Andrew Pusbach

“We are threatened with suffering from three directions: from our own body, which is doomed to decay and dissolution and which cannot even do without pain and anxiety as warning signals; from the external world, which may rage against us with overwhelming and merciless forces of destruction; and finally from our relations to other men. The suffering which comes from this last source is perhaps more painful than any other.” – Sigmund Freud

Decay comes in many forms and has countless interpretations.  Throughout human history mankind has suffered. As the above quote states, much of the pain in this world is brought on by our relations to other men.

Life, existing on this planet is a form of decay, the moment we are conceived in the womb the clock starts ticking. Our days on this planet are numbered.

 With this idea in mind, I made my way out to south east Colorado in search of abandoned houses. These houses and the objects within them tell a story, a story about their past occupants; they offer a small window into what was once private and personal. Many of the houses that I came upon were far removed from the rest of civilization, which allowed seclusion and shelter from the rest of society.

 I don’t know who lived in these houses, I don’t know why they stand vacant, and I don’t know the persons predisposition towards his fellow man. But, I do wonder who they were and what happened to them and how they lived their lives. The impression that I walked away with was one of sadness, struggle, and loneliness.