In the not to distant past Bond Street was an entirely different place. Believe it or not there was nothing but space, dilapidated buildings (with knobs drawn all over the place). You know a place is sad when even the graffiti artists won't touch it. In the absence of art, the "dick and balls" motifs begin to appear in varying degrees of functionality. These are the symptoms of urban decay... This symbolism is a visual confirmation that hope is all but lost...
I could have sworn I saw the words from Dante's Inferno ephemerally appearing and disappearing above the "Gap" entrance to the car park... "Abandon All Hope ye who enter here..."
TOBS
theother Old Bond Street...
TOBS
wasn't always the shining beacon of civic pride...
At one time it was sad, abandoned devoid of love and everyone had given up on this particular part of town... TOBS was a canvas for the talentless and cruel to vent their negative feelings. finally a place that looks the way I feel... Lets fuck shit up... It does feel good to smash a window with a stone on purpose, knowing that nobody will care...
The thing is, no matter how fucked up something is, no matter how broken and abandoned, if you look for the positive, you will find it. This is why certain photographers actively seek out urban decay because they know the beauty is there...
F 1.4
composition, contrast
4 star pic...
At the time... this was one of my best pictures... In fact for a day it was the best I had ever done... I discovered vignette and clarify in lightroom 3... I loved this shot... All I saw was the vividness or something...tbh im not really sure now... but I would look at this and know that I was on my way to being something special... Now I look at it, I still love it... not for its technical or even aesthetic... I love it like you love a child or sibling or dog... Its unconditional because it was born out of a pure desire to make a better picture than the day before... Then I had no idea this project would exist, I didn't even know one day this would become TOBS... imagine what TOBS will be in the future? I know it'll be something, it'll exist... hopefully way beyond just my mind... I have a feeling TOBS is a lot bigger than I know or could even fathom... BTW TOBS is the acronym for theotherbondstreet
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