Small series of "old" 8x10s - Steel Factory

[scootermm]

http://www.matthewmagruder.com/index...s-iron--steel/

I shot these a few years back when I had just begun working with an 8x10. I printed a few of them when I was learning alt processes, did some Van Dyke Browns and a few cyanotypes of some of the negatives, but honestly I had never really truly printed them in the way I saw the whole series.
I've never been one to dig out old negatives and reprint stuff. But for some reason this set of negatives always seemed to be unfinished and the stack of 25 negs has always sat on a shelf above my work table awaiting some attention. So I finally decided to just focus on printing them and culling it down to a semi-coherent small series.
I ended up with 10 negs/prints I thought worked well together.

Thought I'd share them.

My big hope is that after I get them presented together in a portfolio case, I want to take them by and drop them off with the owners of the steel factory in hopes of getting them to let me in to shoot some more before the warehouse/buildings/etc get torn down. They are in a prime location in downtown Austin, so its only a matter of time before they are bought out and tear the whole place down.

would love to hear any thoughts/critiques/comments people have.

[photomc]

See Matt, it IS good to re-visit old negatives
Great body of work, and I DO think that they improved with the plt/pld - now what were you thinking in terms of gum-overs (ducking for cover now).

[billschwab]

It is a fine series Matt! I love going through old negatives and the fact you've pulled these 10 out means you should do it more. There's always some that get away in the excitement over others. I think it is a great idea to contact someone about getting in as well. Sign your waivers and get your steel toes and hard hat ready!

[ausGeoff]

Excellent set, and a classic example of when colour just wouldn't cut it.

Mono was just made for exaggerating the atmospherics of abandoned buildings. I also like that you avoided any sight of a human being in the frames (or was the works already shut down?)

—G.

[jnanian]

thanks for sharing these matt -
it's a great series and i think the
factory owners will be impressed
in how you found beauty in their old
abandoned site. i love your sense of pattern and design,
if you squint your eyes and see the "contrast" many of the images
look like abstract paintings ( and i LOVE that ! )
i hope you look through some of your other old
negatives and find some real gems in there,
sometimes a few years time really changes POV
and "discards" become "keepers" .

have fun, and make sure your tetanus booster is up to date !
( one scrape and a run-in with Clostridium tetani could mess up your whole day )

john

[Axle]

Fantastic set! Thanks for sharing!