Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Momentos



Some of you long, longtime readers may remember the first time I posted these gates. When I first photographed them at The Garage, I did so purely because they were so visually appealing to me. I envisioned the photographs framed and hung in a grouping. No one seemed as enthralled as I was. Not the first time. Well, fast forward to a month ago when I revisited The Garage and found owner /architect Fritz Woehle there. He gave us a delightful tour around his most unusual and eclectic space. As we wandered outside, I commented on the gates and told him how much I loved them. He told me that the white crosspieces were from the windows of the old Birmingham Terminal Station , built in 1909, and torn down in 1969, an act of total stupidity on the part of this city! Fritz salvaged these pieces and added them to the rusted metal gates. I love them even more now.

18 comments:

Kim said...

They are beautiful, and you have a growing relationship with them! :-). I like wnat the pattern does with my eyes. . .a lot of visual movement there in a static gate. And yay for salvage and reuse of meaningful architectural details. They've got "soul."
Looks like Friz's buddy standing in front of the gates has a past life he could tell us about, too.
-Kim

Chuck Pefley said...

Cool, V. I'm drawn to repeating patterns, shadows, and symmetry as well. This has a nice depth to it, and visually makes one wonder what is behind this gate.

Olivier said...

beau graphique sur la première photo, j'aime la couleur et le jeu d'ombre

brattcat said...

That padlock is the tiniest clue that this is a functioning barrier. Utilitarian art does the world good.

Thérèse said...

It makes so much sense. If we could reuse what we sometimes throw away...

B SQUARED said...

Look great to me.

Anonymous said...

Who's the old white dude?

Daryl said...

What Chuck said ...

Virginia said...

Hiker,
Seen one old Greek god, you seen em all.

joan said...

I love these gates! Metal, repeating patterns, history, re-use. I like everything about them. How fun you got to meet the gates owner/creator.

Anonymous said...

They are so unique! Sad about the terminal station and the shortsightedness of the "bigger and newer is better" mentality. Our city has the same problem. So much history lost!

Must add The Garage to my list of places to visit when I wrangle another invitation from my Birmingham pal.

Anonymous said...

They are so unique! Sad about the terminal station and the shortsightedness of the "bigger and newer is better" mentality. Our city has the same problem. So much history lost!

Must add The Garage to my list of places to visit when I wrangle another invitation from my Birmingham pal.

Chattahoochee Valley Daily said...

I am glad he had the foresight to save and repurpose them. I also find them apealling, but I am fond of the geometry of things.

Kathy said...

Recycling at its best!

Virginia said...

Thank you all for loving these almost as much as I do. Maybe I'll go back and feed the obsession and show you more! :) It's fun dealing with photographers. You seem to understand my quirks!

Bob Crowe said...

You could make so many associations with these: stars, wagon wheels, the union jack. The statue, though, looks like he's ready to collect his Social Security.

Virginia said...

Bob, I"m pretty sure he and I went to high school together.
V

Marie-Noyale said...

I prefer the angle this time and the lighting is just perfect!