weather patina

I shot this yesterday on my 5-day road trip along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. For years I’ve gone from Austin to my family’s beach house on the east coast of Florida the fastest way possible when driving, which is primarily a day and a half long high speed deadhead primarily on I-10. I have been wanting to take a slow drive hugging the coast on the old roads for quite some time, and this time I did it. Road trips are a big thing for photographers such as myself, especially solo so nobody is bored while I explore and shoot. I had no idea that I was going to visit this fort until it was ahead of me after exiting my 3rd ferry ride on this trip. It was built to guard the mouth of Mobile Bay and predates the Civil War, but it was during that conflict that it saw some real action. It’s suffered from time and neglect, but mostly the pounding of hurricanes has given it its patina. I think this shot fits well compositionally with the last several images in the game.

Recycling has been around a long time and who would have guessed the beauty of these reprocessed, second use items over a hundred years later. Martin’s image of wood and metal gives us a glimpse of the past, a hint of many stories. It also got me thinking of this wall I shot in the ghost town of Bodie. If only these walls could talk.