The People Have Spoken Welcome back to the 2nd ever GM Hanvy Photography photo blog. I'll be honest, I don't know a thing about this place. It was a beautiful day and Marian and I were driving around on country roads somewhere around Industry, Texas. We had just left an unpaved county road for a paved farm to market road and there it was.

This was taken with my old camera so I have no GPS data and I can't tell you exactly where this is. The sky is happy and that juxtaposition with the cafe caught my eye. I don't see this building as sad though. To me, it exudes a well worn confidence. After all it is the "Peoples Choice Cafe".

Now, it might be a little worn and tattered but then aren't we all or will be before long. It has seen happier days and has even worse days coming but it still has a bit of a jaunty feeling to it which I tried to emphasize with my composition. When this was built and first opened as a cafe, I bet there was enthusiasm, great expectations and happiness that someone's dream was coming true. Maybe it lasted a long time or maybe just a short time but it has known happiness and I think the sky reflects that. The encroaching darkness at the bottom might reflect an uncertain future but this place is okay with that too. The time is "not yet" and, in the meantime, it will carry on the best it can. Seems to me it is doing a good job of carrying on AND it has TV as the antenna indicates. When I was walking around, looking for the shooting angle I wanted, I got that feeling I sometimes get around these old buildings. The same feeling I had as a youngster exploring the old buildings on our farm. Have you ever had the feeling that if you could just turn the corner around to the side of the building fast enough you might be able to catch this old building just like it was in it's heyday? Or maybe, if you can just turn around fast enough you might be able to see it as it was? It has never been a scary feeling for me but maybe more like a coin on edge that has two distinct sides but you can't see either side until you rotate it. Never was fast enough, I guess, but I used to try.

I've been fascinated with old dilapidated buildings since I was a child. My dad was a farmer, in the Panhandle of Texas,  and he leased some land that had an old homesite on it. It was one of those places you might see by the side of the road where a more modern house has been built and the old homestead in the back has been abandoned but is still there and intact. That's the way this place was. We moved into the more modern home and I had an old house, a falling apart barn with all kinds of blacksmith tools and a cranky badger that lived under the back corner. In addition, there were all sorts of out buildings and animal pens to explore. Not to mention all of the old farm implements and even an old storm cellar. So, because I'm drawn to and care for these old structures, I try to depict them in a dignified light. What do you think about this photograph?

Gary