Suburbs of a provincial town

[Julian Tanase]

Not what you expected, I am sure. And yet this is a suburb of a town, a small one, in the NE of Romania. An old town, hailing from the XVth century, and for some time, capital of the lower half of the medieval principality of Moldavia. Yes, this town has a background and some sort of a royal pedigree; it is not one of those localities that appeared in the XIXth century like mushrooms. And yet...

This area depicted here is the town’s SE suburbs (within the town limits). Situated near the Bacau train station, it was an area which was occupied by the railroad buildings, various workshops, warehouses, depots, and so forth. Nowadays, the area has a lot of empty spaces, with old derelict buildings scattered here and there. Almost none are used anymore by the CFR (Romanian acronym for Romanian Railroads), and what buildings still stand, they are leased to or owned by various small companies, usually non-related to railroad company. With a very few exceptions, this area looks exactly like it did 40 years ago, during the communist regime. You can tell that just by looking at the ruinous features of it. Progress is yet to happen here, for many different reasons.​

These photographs were taken on a cold and misty morning, with a stubborn and really icy drizzle in the air; everything looked more miserable than it usually is (in the summer, the area is of an Irish green). All shot with Nikon FM3a loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 (@ 160), expired in 2006. It was actually my last roll from the 2006 batch. Don’t worry, I already have a new bulk roll .

 

[Rob MacKillop]

A tired old roll, for sure, but the grittiness suits the subjects. Highly successful, I'd say.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

Industrial archaeology is a traditional subject of my interests, one that I have photographed a lot, but unfortunately it was not for me so today I no longer have those photos. It occurs to me that perhaps in my attic I have an undeveloped roll of film (probably colour slides) of a factory that was once present in my area. That time I had climbed over the fence of the disused industrial plant (despite the many prohibition signs) risking encountering dogs or guards and had taken a whole roll of film that may not have been so bad, then the guards caught me and shooed me away badly. That time, I felt so humiliated that I lost the will to develop the film. Around 40 years must have passed by now, so I don't think the film is recoverable.

Fascinating sequence, @Julian, I would have a hard time selecting my favourite photo, but surely the one of the tracks shot through the grid and the main building in the last shot speak to me the most. Please, keep on with the subject.

 

[Tony Warren]

This is sad on several levels, so typical of the demise of smaller communities as people move to the big city areas. Also makes me reflect on the fate of the railways, so much the shining example of pride in their appearance and responsibility. Tracks would have been clear of weeds at one time for example.
Quite fine grain for Tri-X Julian. What developer do you use?

 

[Julian Tanase]

A tired old roll, for sure, but the grittiness suits the subjects. Highly successful, I'd say.

Thank you, Rob; tired old roll thing shows the tired old things can still bite if pushed (in this case pulled)

 

[Julian Tanase]

Industrial archaeology is a traditional subject of my interests, one that I have photographed a lot, but unfortunately it was not for me so today I no longer have those photos. It occurs to me that perhaps in my attic I have an undeveloped roll of film (probably colour slides) of a factory that was once present in my area. That time I had climbed over the fence of the disused industrial plant (despite the many prohibition signs) risking encountering dogs or guards and had taken a whole roll of film that may not have been so bad, then the guards caught me and shooed me away badly. That time, I felt so humiliated that I lost the will to develop the film. Around 40 years must have passed by now, so I don't think the film is recoverable.

Fascinating sequence, @Julian, I would have a hard time selecting my favourite photo, but surely the one of the tracks shot through the grid and the main building in the last shot speak to me the most. Please, keep on with the subject.

Gianluca, if I were you I would try and find that roll. Who knows how lucky you can get. Industrial archaeology...didn't know this is an actual term up to this moment. Thank you !

 

[Julian Tanase]

This is sad on several levels, so typical of the demise of smaller communities as people move to the big city areas. Also makes me reflect on the fate of the railways, so much the shining example of pride in their appearance and responsibility. Tracks would have been clear of weeds at one time for example.
Quite fine grain for Tri-X Julian. What developer do you use?

Tony, sad indeed. The film was pulled, so this and the choice of developer may have had a hand in getting a finer grain than usual for this type. The grain is still there, of course, but not the boulder size grain many times TriX presents. Thank you !

 

[Mark Feinstein]

Here are some similar industrial and railroad scenes from a much larger place - New York City - where, until the 1970's, factories and train tracks still covered a lot of the urban landscape. These images are of industrial areas in the outlying borough of Queens, in Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside and along Newtown Creek. Some of them recall a time when even New York City had a bit of a rural look in the midst of thriving industry and manufacturing. But this old cityscape has largely disappeared. Many of the buildings and railroad yards have since succumbed to re-development and were replaced with office skyscrapers and "gentrified" residential buildings. The next-to-last shot shows two old houses in Woodside on open land along a railroad track that has since become a modern commercial/light-industrial zone. The RR line is still in use, though some of it is now underground. All of these photos were shot in the mid-1970's on a Minolta SRT-101 with Tri-X ASA 400. A few were pushed in development.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Mark, these are amazing shots, showing a New York I’m not used to seeing, and far more interesting than more skyscrapers.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

Here are some similar industrial and railroad scenes from a much larger place - New York City - where, until the 1970's, factories and train tracks still covered a lot of the urban landscape. These images are of industrial areas in the outlying borough of Queens, in Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside and along Newtown Creek. Some of them recall a time when even New York City had a bit of a rural look in the midst of thriving industry and manufacturing. But this old cityscape has largely disappeared. Many of the buildings and railroad yards have since succumbed to re-development and were replaced with office skyscrapers and "gentrified" residential buildings. The next-to-last shot shows two old houses in Woodside on open land along a railroad track that has since become a modern commercial/light-industrial zone. The RR line is still in use, though some of it is now underground. All of these photos were shot in the mid-1970's on a Minolta SRT-101 with Tri-X ASA 400. A few were pushed in development.
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Great series, indeed! Thank you for posting these photos.

 

[Peter Roberts]

Two fine sets of images here. Thank you Julian and Mark!
I'm struck by the fact that albeit separated by decades and distance they complement each other so well.

 

[Julian Tanase]

Two fine sets of images here. Thank you Julian and Mark!
I'm struck by the fact that albeit separated by decades and distance they complement each other so well.

Peter, thank you. Urban decay and re-development, although not linear, follow more or less the same recipe, from the booming days to the complete erasure of the old and replacing with something else (not necessarily better).

 

[Gianluca Drago]

Peter, thank you. Urban decay and re-development, although not linear, follow more or less the same recipe, from the booming days to the complete erasure of the old and replacing with something else (not necessarily better).

I wasted my booming days blathering ‘’La la la‘’ during my first year of existence. Now I'm waiting to be replaced by someone else ‘(not necessarily better)’. Haha.

 

[Julian Tanase]

Well, no matter how much we do not wish it, but I am afraid we all shall be replaced by others, sooner or later. Not necessarily evolution, you understand...it is called life cycle. You worried?

 

[Gianluca Drago]

Well, no matter how much we do not wish it, but I am afraid we all shall be replaced by others, sooner or later. Not necessarily evolution, you understand...it is called life cycle. You worried?

No, I'm not worried at all, the opposite. I already have enough rust in my joints, broken glass in my eyes and mouldy concrete on my skin. I was just saying that perhaps we are fascinated by the wrecks (cultural, industrial, social, agricultural, architectural) of times past because we identify with them. But this is not a bad thing; on the contrary, it becomes a shared cultural memory, shared with everyone, including future generations.

 

[Julian Tanase]

No, I'm not worried at all, the opposite. I already have enough rust in my joints, broken glass in my eyes and mouldy concrete on my skin. I was just saying that perhaps we are fascinated by the wrecks (cultural, industrial, social, agricultural, architectural) of times past because we identify with them. But this is not a bad thing; on the contrary, it becomes a shared cultural memory, shared with everyone, including future generations.

True.

 

[Mark Feinstein]

Two fine sets of images here. Thank you Julian and Mark!
I'm struck by the fact that albeit separated by decades and distance they complement each other so well.

Thank you, Peter!

 

[Mark Feinstein]

Mark, these are amazing shots, showing a New York I’m not used to seeing, and far more interesting than more skyscrapers.

Thanks, Rob. But I'm afraid the skyscrapers are winning out. I haven't been back to this area for many, many years, but it's clear from the contemporary photos I've seen recently that the old, gritty and homely skyline that I remember fondly has become a hyper-modern, bland and sterile eyesore.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Boo.

 

[Bill Brown]

Here are some similar industrial and railroad scenes from a much larger place - New York City - where, until the 1970's, factories and train tracks still covered a lot of the urban landscape. These images are of industrial areas in the outlying borough of Queens, in Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside and along Newtown Creek.

Mark,

I like all of these but my favorite is the opening shot. I can almost feel the biting cold as the wind blows up the snow. A shot taken by someone who disregarded personal comfort and just for their own amusement. There are so many photos like this hidden away in peoples photo archives. They each tell a story of personal discovery and from the everyday persons viewpoint. Except the everyday person isn't going to go out in the cold with camera in hand. Thanks Mark for letting us glimpse into the past from the comfort of our own homes.

I'll add two from my archive. The first was shot on New Years day 1979 when Dallas experienced one of the worst ice storms in it's history. The second is from the year 1985 and I was at the early stages of documenting the Dallas skyline (45 years now).