Not all photographic subjects are found on back roads far from home. They can be found anywhere. The examples I’m showing here were found within just a few miles from home. I think we can get jaded by the sights and places that we pass on a daily basis, and not think of them as exciting, or worth investigating for a photo shoot.
I drive past Cook’s Mill in Greenville, WV almost on a daily basis for work. If the light is good, I sometime stop and take a picture, or two. I have shots from all seasons. This is one of my favorites.(Click on image for larger photo).
The old mill above, is less than 15 minutes from home. I drive past it almost on a daily basis for work, and often stop to capture the different seasons, or another angle. Even closer to home is the automotive service center below, which is within a stone’s throw from my house.
This care care center is a stone’s throw from our house and made an interesting subject on a cloudy day. (Click on image for larger photo).
A small Appalachian town shot from our back deck is a slice of Americana that will never be seen by most. (Click on image for larger photo).
This final example was shot even closer to home, from our back deck, with a camera set up on a tripod. It shows a typical small Appalachian town at dusk. Nothing out of the ordinary, but a slice of Americana not seen by most. So, don’t forget that home can be a great place to start a photo portfolio. While home may seem ordinary to you, it might fascinate someone else.
There are no major roads going through Thurmond. Signs off of U.S. 19 point to it, with little other information. It’s a railroad town, on the New River, almost deserted, except for a few people who live in the area, and National Park Service employees who now keep up the once thriving coal metropolis and banking center.
Looking down the tracks, Thurmond, WV. (Click on image for larger photo).
It was a winter day earlier this year, and I was headed back home from a meeting when I saw the sign that pointed to Thurmond. I had heard of the town, and knew a little of its history, so I decided to venture off the highway and follow the winding mountain road. After a half-hour of driving I came to the old town. No one else was there, even though the old town is somewhat of a tourist destination, and maintained by the National Park Service and New River Gorge National River.
The old Thurmond depot and bridge across the New River are visible from the hill just across the tracks. (Click on image for larger photo).
The Chesapeke and Ohio ( C&O) depot is still in use as an Amtrack stop, and National Park Service visitor’s center. The Amtrack station is the second least used stop in the country, behind the one in Sanderson, Texas.
CSX (formerly C&O) trains run along the tracks, just a few feet from the store front town of Thurmond, on a regular basis carrying coal, chemicals, heavy machinery and construction equipment and supplies, among other things. I didn’t know the trains’ schedule, but was lucky enough to be there when one went through. I could hear it coming, so prepared by putting a wide angle lens on one camera, and a telephoto on another.
A CX train goes through Thurmond, WV. (Click on image for larger photo).
A CSX train goes by the Thurmond Depot. (Click on image for larger photo).
I didn’t spend long at the historic site, once an important part of West Virginia’s rich coal mining heritage, but was lucky enough to be able to shoot a few shots before rain rolled in and put a halt to my photo shoot. Clouds and bare winter trees gave a feeling of desolation, which made it difficult to image this as a bustling and thriving business destination in days gone by. In it’s heyday, traffic in or out of Thurmond was by foot or rail, as there wasn’t a road into town until 1921. That road, like so many others in rural West Virginia, isn’t much to speak of. It turns and twists twists along woods, hills, and streams, and an occasional old house on it’s often one lane course. But, it get’s one to it’s destination, and that’s all that has counted in almost a hundred years.
I had just left a construction site and was headed to another one, along some very rural southern West Virginia roads. The stereo was tuned to my favorite late night paranormal podcast, to which I subscribe and listen to while driving for work in daylight hours. I knew there was some road construction ahead causing delays, so decided to investigate a side road and see if it might save some time. I had no idea where it went, but anyone who drives these back roads knows that they twist and turn, and can come out near where they start, or just about anywhere else. And, you can’t trust a GPS. This one came out on the same road I was on, just a couple of miles beyond the road work. I’m not sure it saved any time, as it took me an hour to drive the 15 mile, or so, loop.
Backroad Aphrodite. (Click on image for larger photo).
After driving on the detour some half-hour, I rounded one of the many curves, and was amazed at what I saw. Standing along the side of a drive, in an overgrown field (in very, very, rural West Virginia) was life size statues that I guessed must be of Aphrodite and Dionysus. Out of place! Most certainly!
Buildings at the end of the drive were obviously abandoned, one with the roof half gone. I pulled off the road and realized that I had brought my camera bag in the house the night before to reorganize, and had not put it back in my truck. I still had a rangefinder camera with a 28mm lens. I got out and started to shoot. No one was around, and there was nothing to tell the story of the statues. It seemed very unreal at the time, like an alternate reality the guest on the podcast to which I had been listening to, had been talking about.
Backroad Dionysus. (Click on image for larger photo).
To this day, I don’t know why the statues are there. I guessed that the property might once have been a winery, and greeted visitors as they entered. I’ll be back, and I’m sure that I’ll find someone to ask about the ancient Greek god and goddess. Until then, I’ll be content with the images that I shot.
