Old "Stuff"

I've found that when it seems that there is nothing interesting to take a picture of, you haven't looked around enough. I came across this old mill here in Huntington the other day while I was out scouting possible locations to shoot pictures. I've always appreciated "old" things: architecture, paintings, ... people. When I took photography classes at Utah State, I always focused my attention on aging barns and buildings around Cache Valley. There's so much to be valued and appreciated in the beauty of their textures and the fact that time has made them look the way they do. It's effect on an object or person can be replicated, but not as beautifully as if the process were natural. It's in the process that true beauty is formed.

Look at the old white mill. Do you see the layers of subtle blue in the building's crumbling paint? Or the turquoise sheen of the broken window pains, or the waves in the century-old glass that reflect and ripple the light in such a way that no modern improvements can?

I often find myself thinking that there is little beauty in this small town we live in, that "I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere" as my mind tells me on a regular basis. Maybe we are "stuck" here so that time can work it's way on me, on my outlook and attitude. Maybe we will grow old here too, like so many other things I see around town. The trick will be in developing the layers and textures along the way that, in the end, are what make something truly noteworthy.

That being said, yeah, I just like taking pictures of old stuff! Here you go! And by the way, "stuff" if such an under-appreciated word. I think it must have ancient origins.