The Backyards of Somerville - iPhone!

So much for two entries a week.  But yes here I am again plying away determined to not give up, not give in, never surrender.  Yes my goal has been altered but that is no reason to give up completely!  Soldier on I must so soldier on I will.

This series is pretty much self-explanatory.  It is pictures of, well, backyards in the town in which I live, Somerville, MA.  All the photos were taken in the past month or so which help give these yards an extra helping of emptiness and disuse, uh, because it's winterish.

I enjoy finding forgotten corners of the world, places that seem like they may never have been visited even though they exist in the midst of a busy and crowded world.  

I also like the effects I can get using the various apps available for shooting photos on an iPhone.  The ease with which you can apply filters and a tilt-shift to your work is pretty darn cool.

The barbeque grill standing alone, rusting in the brown grass and dead leaves strikes me as a particularly lonely sentinel.  How can the source of so much summer sustenance, the fiery focus of mirth and merriment be so easily discarded?  And if it can (and obviously it can) what else can be so easily tossed aside?  Mommy? 

OK.  I don't really get too worked up about these empty pieces of the world but they are speaking more loudly than I realized at first.  It is easy to pass them by without a second thought.  But I'm glad I stopped to look.

They remind me of days gone by and make me nostalgic for times that I have no specific memory of and yet I believe must have been better, shinier, and more full of hope than any that came after it.  (Is nostalgia always tinged with sadness?)

I hope I don't leave you with a negative impression of Somerville.    These photos could have been taken a lot of places.  I just happen to live here and have a feel for this kind of scene.  A lot of my work plays with and explores themes of emptiness and loneliness and this series is yet another variation on those themes.  

I threw this one in there to show you the backyards of the forlorn can be found other places too.  This one is in Brooklyn.  I promise to re-visit these spots when things turn green and warm and see if it's the season that gives them their bleak personalities or if it's me.


Thanks for looking.  As always click on the pics to make them grow!