Sunday, December 21, 2008

Father and son




Out of the corner of my eye as I drove down Main Street, Poughkeepsie, New York, I spotted a fine Victorian brick factory, set behind the more modern, perhaps twenties buildings on Main Street itself. In front of the building two workers were carrying out a load of demolition rubbish. I thought: "Luxury apartments to rent". Not a difficult conclusion, as that was what every old factory building in towns like Poughkeepsie, up and down the Hudson Valley, were being converted into. I stopped and got out my almost unused, ready to explore, Nikon digital camera, and found this father and son team clearing the way for what we all knew would be rubbishy conversion into mingy apartments. All but three years later, the building stands in its original state, unconverted, but with no innards; a monument to our ancestors who built and manufactured rather then punted.

2 comments:

  1. Too bad about the fine old building. Perhaps it will get saved after all.
    Your portrait conveys the destruction and demolition of their spirit and the soul of the old building behind them.

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