I’m on a new photo jag, capturing some of the most exciting and beautiful buildings in our town. I started with the Chinese Restaurant and then the local bookstore. Today, my Leica and I drove by the very proud and beautiful Rice Mansion, which dominates the middle of town.
I’m not boosting the Chamber of Commerce; I’m just looking to capture the feel of beautiful old buildings still standing out in a small rural town. My Leica is the perfect companion.
Our town is lucky; we’ve been spared the scourge and devastation of a mall, we aren’t big enough. I’ve never been inside of the Mansion, just driven by. It has a kind of mystical aura for me.
We are poor in some ways but rich in beautiful old architecture (The Mansion is one of those beautiful old buildings.)
In June 1901, the old Crocker Mansion was torn down to make room for a new Mansion, built for Seed Magnate Jerome B. Rice.
The Mansion is now an inn. I’m glad I scratched this itch and took the photo. I’ve wanted to take a picture of this spectacular building for some time.
To me, the black and white pictures evoke a feeling of “time travel” as though you could just step into the picture and be in that time and place. (Not sure if that makes any sense.) They are very beautiful pictures and it is not easy to pull away from looking at them and thinking…what that time and place would be like.
Makes a lot of sense Barbara, thanks
Barbara, what is amazing to me is that my eyes go to all the details they would overlook in a color photograph. There’s something about the black and white photographs that pulls my eyes in more deeply. Not sure why that is.