Rained out!

Unfortunately, no prints or new work for me this week. It was gray and raining both days I had designated for shooting. However, I'm renting a wide-angle lens today and will be shooting rain or shine tomorrow and Sunday afternoon. I really wanted all my images for this project to be taken in the early morning "golden" sun. That might not be how it turns out, which will be disappointing. So everyone cross your fingers and wish for sunny, sunny days for the next 3 weeks!

This week's progress

Didn't get to shoot for my project this week, but some progress has been made:

-I've become more aware of the sun's position during the day and have been deciding when the best time to photograph buildings based on the direction they face. Google Maps has been great a great help. However, their satellite view has not been an option for many of the buildings I've looked up, which has been a little disappointing.

-Received clearance from the powers that be at the UCD to photograph the Statler Hilton from their roof. I just have to coordinate a time that works with the facility director to get up there.

-After class at the UCD last night, I tested a 28mm to see if it was wide enough to shoot the hotel. Close, but shot still needs to be wider. I'll reserve the 20-35mm from school for when I go up on the UCD roof.

Some test images from last night:

Location, location, location...

Some locations I'll be photographing:

Knights of Pythias Temple
2551 Elm Street

Luna Tortilla Factory
1615 McKinney Avenue

Purse & Company Wholesale Furniture
601 Elm St.

Site of Terilli's, Greenville Bar & Grill, Mick's and Hurricane Grill
Greenville Ave.

West End Marketplace

Black Forest Theatre
1920 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Fort Worth Ave. Motor Court Motels
712 Ft. Worth Ave.
1839 Ft. Worth Ave.
514 W. Commerce

1615 Main Street

2111 Jackson

Butler Brothers Building
500 S. Ervay St.

and at the suggestion of Peter:

Lone Star Gas Co. Building
301 S. Harwood

and

Old Dallas Central Library
1954 Commerce Street

Crozier Tech 2

More photos of old Dallas High School/Crozier Tech.

508 Park Ave.

508 Park Avenue is located two blocks east of Dallas’ City Hall. It was built in 1929 as the Warner
Brothers Film Exchange and served the movie theater district on Elm Street. Designed in the Zig-Zag
Moderne style that was popular at that time, 508 Park Avenue is one of the best and one of the few
examples of this style of architecture remaining in Dallas today.

On a historical and cultural level, the building is significant for its unique musical heritage – it was
associated with many giants in the industry for several decades. By 1937 Brunswick Records was
leasing space from Warner Brothers for their regional distribution center; it was there that Mississippi
Bluesman Robert Johnson (1911-1938) reportedly made his last recording.

In 2009, Glazer's Distributors -- owners of 508 Park Avenue, filed with the city a permit that would allow them to tear down one of the most historic structures in the city of Dallas. The building is among some three dozen singled out by Mayor Tom Leppert and City Attorney Tom Perkins, who are trying to bring vacant downtown buildings up to code.

info from Preservation Dallas and The Dallas Observer

Statler Hilton Hotel

The Dallas Statler Hilton opened in early 1956, with luminaries from both coasts converging on Dallas for a four-day celebration. A-list Hollywood entertainers, the Governor, a Who’s Who guest list and—among other far-fetched acts—the Hiltonettes chorus girls performing in mink chaps and headdresses representing the “ingredients” of Dallas.

The hotel itself was proclaimed “the last word in hostelries,” and in several ways it really was the first hotel in the country that might be considered modern by today’s standards. At any rate, it instantly took its place as the southwest’s premier hotspot.

30 years of changing culture and technology were sufficient to turn the hotel from modern marvel to unremarkable relic, and Hilton sold the building in 1988. It went though a couple other owners and names on the way down, ending up as the Dallas Grand Hotel by the time it closed for good in 2001.

info from Nostalgic Glass

Crozier Tech/Old Dallas High School

The century-old classical revival building that once housed Crozier Tech has sat abandoned for 15 years – a perennial item on preservationists' most-endangered lists and a source of frustration to city planners.

The building, with plywood over its windows, sits across from the Pearl Street DART station, a gateway to the AT&T Performing Arts Center and potentially one of the most desirable blocks in downtown.

Preservationists credit the alumni group with saving the structure, and alumni say the preservation fight helped hold together the group. But the owners have argued that those preservation restrictions have made it harder to develop.

The building was opened as Dallas High School, the city's sole secondary school, in 1908. It went through several names through the decades, most famously as Norman Robert Crozier Technical High School from 1942 to 1974.

The alumni association includes graduates of Dallas High School. Although graduates of the DISD Business and Management Magnet School, which occupied the building from 1975 to 1995, are also eligible to join the alumni group, few have done so.

Two years after DISD closed the building, it was purchased in 1998 for $6.1 million by California investor Robert Yu, managing partner of 2218 Bryan Street Ltd.

The owners unsuccessfully fought historic designation of the property, saying it would make it harder to find a buyer. They took the issue to court and lost. The outside of the building cannot be altered without city approval.

info from The Dallas Morning News

photo from Red Oak Kid

Big Town

The location that started it all! After realizing what a strong connection I had to the remains of this place, this was the place that served as start of my project.

Big Town Mall in Mesquite, TX, was the first enclosed air-conditioned shopping mall in the Southwest. Construction was completed in 1959 and opened with much excitement and grandeur. The mall opened with the anchor stores Montgomery Wards, Sanger's and Woolworths. A few months later, J.C. Penny opened up as well. Until the opening of Town East Mall in the 1970's, Big Town Mall was "the place to be". In addition the mall was a movie theater, bowling alley and exhibition hall.

Penny's and Sanger Harris were both at the mall until the mid 1980's. Montgomery Wards was open until the company went bankrupt in 2001. At that time, all that remained was Horse and Rider and a discount shoe store. Eventually both of these closed and the mall sat desolate until demolition in 2006.


information from Big Town Mall Blog

Project Proposal

For my final project in Documentary Photography, I intend to document and photograph modern ruins, or structures abandoned through the process of urban decay. I want to photograph spaces where it is evident an edifice once stood, but that has now been torn down or is crumbling due to depopulation, economic hardships, or abandonment. I’m fascinated with the mystery of places: who once inhabited them and how with the building of a structure came hope and purpose. I’m curious as to the reasons and history of why places and structures that once thrived are left to waste away.

My methodology in this project will be to scout out locations and visit them at different times of the day in order to capture the different feelings the changes in daylight brings. I also intend to research the history of the areas of town where I find these structures in hopes of finding out their history and perhaps why they perished. I also plan on seeking out structures that may be scheduled for demolition. Some photographers whose work is in a similar vein, and that I have been looking at are: are Joel Sternfeld, Robert Polidori, and Matthew Merret.

It is my hope that with my final images I can (to borrow from a song) show that there is “beauty in the breakdown” as well as enlighten the viewer on how and why these places are now derelict.