THE SADNESS OF ABANDONED SPACES
Near the close of her beautiful essay, “A Storm, The Cornfield, and Elk,” from The Solace of Open Spaces, Gretel Ehrlich writes: “Autumn teaches us that fruition is also death; that ripeness is a form of decay. The willows, having stood so long near water, begin to rust. Leaves are verbs that conjugate the seasons.”
As I prepared this photo essay, “The Sadness of Abandoned Spaces,” I paraphrased her quote: “Abandoned urban spaces are voices that speak of waste and indifference.” There is no connection to nature or flow of the seasons. Instead there is a visual expression of the belief that there an endless supply of resources. Old? Worn out? Abandon and move on, leaving behind a blot on the landscape for the homeless to fill.
Although I didn’t see any homeless at this abandoned, nameless complex near the corner of Santa Fe Ave and Pacific Coast Highway in west Long Beach, CA, I did see evidence of their existence in the sleeping bags that were hidden under trees and in the tall grasses around the complex. The number of homeless is growing and the abandoned complex seen in the images that follow is typical of their home.
Making this brief photo essay, raised two questions. 1.) Can a better solution to improve the lives of the homeless be found? Surely, a society as rich as ours can find a way to do so. 2.) Can the awareness of the finite supply of materials and resources, raise society’s intention to rehab, recycle, and restore or do we continue to waste until the tipping point is reached.
