Certainly the texture and character of builidings in decay are primary reasons for me.
Up in Copake there are many old barns, outbuilding etc. in various stages of disrepair and decay. And, what was nearly a four-century agricultural economy there is now rapidly giving way to secondary homeownership (i.e. "weekenders" like myself) and exurban sprawl. So many of these structures represent a "world" that is disappearing forever.
And, as Jim Galli notes, you can revisit these structures from time to time and see the further decay that records the passage of time and the ravages of weathering etc.
Of course, sometimes someone throws you for a loop. Last year I took a bunch of photos of a decaying barn near our place. It was late spring and I used Velvia. I have shots of flowering plants growing through the weathered wallboards etc.
Just a couple of weeks ago I noticed that someone is now restoring this barn that I figured for dead! Construction braces are propping it up and one whole side has now been covered with new plywood.
I guess it's nice to see a struture get saved and rebuilt - but I feel kind of sad about it too.... |