
Abandoned Church

by Brian Wallace
Title
Abandoned Church
Artist
Brian Wallace
Medium
Photograph - 2d Film Image
Description
An image of an old abandoned church near Langford Estates on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
You could say I have an affinity for old abandoned structures. Thinking back on it now, I feel rather stupid, taking the chances I did, going through these decrepit places when they could have collapsed at any time or had wild animals taking refuge there. Many of these dilapidated structures ceased to exist shortly after I visited them to explore and take pictures.
At the time, my parents lived near this area. There was only one way in and one way out and you had to pass by this old abandoned church on every visit to my parent's house.
Next to this church, near Langford Bay Estates, were some modest headstones in a small neglected, cemetery. Not long after this image was taken, while traveling to my parent's home, I noticed the old structure had vanished.
Exploring the Church...
As I started walking across the floor of the old church, camera in hand, a window on the right side suddenly flew up of its own accord. Don't ask me why I didn't high-tail it out of there pronto, but I'm convinced the vibrations I caused while walking triggered the window. When I looked on either side of the window, hanging inside the walls were ropes with counter-weights which at one time would have helped one to more easily raise the window up. Although an unexpected surprise, the experience proved to be a very interesting excursion into this old abandonment.
The original picture was taken with a Konica SLR film camera many years ago during the colder months. I breathed on the lens, aimed, and waited until just enough evaporation before snapping the shutter to obtain the foggy effect.
On an unrelated (I think) but also strange and unusual occurrence, I left my parent's home and was on my way back out to travel to my own home near Baltimore. It was warm weather and I had the windows of the car rolled down since it had no air conditioning. The Eastern Shore of Maryland is pretty much all country, made up of flat farmland. Traveling to and from my parent's residence consisted of roads between fields for much of the trip.
As I was traveling, and incidentally near the area of the old abandoned church, suddenly something from outside shot through the passenger side window. It hit the headrest and in the next instant there were green feathers floating about in my car. When I checked the back seat I found a small dead green bird!
Two things were very odd about this event...
One, the actual occurrence of a bird flying into an open window of the car while I was speeding down the back road.
Two, I had never seen a green bird on the Eastern Shore of MD my whole life growing up there!
For whatever reason, it seemed appropriate to call this event, an OMEN.
Uploaded
August 6th, 2011
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Viewed 2,287 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 09/19/2023 at 9:13 AM
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Comments (80)

John Twynam
Great shot. I enjoyed your back story in the discussion forum. https://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=6803016

Brian Wallace
Thanks Michelle Webb, for featuring my work in the group, https://fineartamerica.com/groups/art-in-innovation.html

Gary F Richards
Spectacular capture, lighting, shading, colors and artwork! F/L …voted for this piece in the BEST EARLY PHOTOGRAPHY contest!

Kathi Isserman
CONGRATULATIONS your BEAUTIFUL image has been FEATURED on the HOME PAGE of Mid-Atlantic States of the USA! Please add this to the discussion 2021 “FEATURED IMAGE ARCHIVE THREAD.” Thank you for participating in the group.
Brian Wallace replied:
Thanks Kathi, for the nice comment, and feature in the group, https://fineartamerica.com/groups/mid-atlantic-states-of-the-usa-photographs-only.html

Brian Wallace
Thanks Jeff Iverson, for featuring my work in the group, https://fineartamerica.com/groups/artist-salon-1.html

Jordan Hill
Congratulations on being featured in the FAA Group ‘The Outdoor Photographer' To ensure your feature remains available over time, post your featured images in the Group's 'Thanks for the Feature / photo archive
Brian Wallace replied:
Thanks Jordan, for the comment and feature in the group, https://fineartamerica.com/groups/the-outdoor-photographer.html

Kathi Isserman
It is my pleasure to inform you that your AWESOME photo is FEATURED on the HOMEPAGE OF "SHOWCASING THE SOUTH GROUP"! L Please add the photo to the 2021 “FEATURED IMAGE ARCHIVE THREAD.” Thank you for participating in the group.
Brian Wallace replied:
Thanks Kathi, for the comment, L, and feature in the group, https://fineartamerica.com/groups/showcasing-the-south.html

Brian Wallace
Thanks Doug Norkum, for featuring my work in the group, https://fineartamerica.com/groups/2-churches.html

Gary F Richards
Outstanding capture, lighting, shading, and artwork! F/L voted for this piece in the BLACK AND WHITE ONLY - NO SEPIA OR OTHERS TONES PH...contest!

Sharon Eng
Nice capture with the fog lending to the abandonment.
Brian Wallace replied:
Thanks for viewing and commenting Sharon. The fog "effect" was my breath on the lens and taking the shot when some had evaporated. :)

Toni Abdnour
A wonderful film shot, Brian! I especially like the "foggy" effect and how it came about! Wow! l/f

Leslie Montgomery
OMG what an amazing story Brian! It gives me shivers as look at this beautiful old church.
Brian Wallace replied:
Thanks Leslie, for the nice comment and fave of my work. I appreciate it very much! :)

Debra and Dave Vanderlaan
A terrific dreamy effect Brian! Love the black and white choice. Thanks for participating in the Won the Lottery discussion! We added our like here. Celebrate life, Debra and Dave
Brian Wallace replied:
Thanks Dabra and Dave, for the nice comment and like on my work. I appreciate it very much!