Ruins by Chipka
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Description
Clouds thickened over the tower, the cubical keep, the moat of razor-grass, alive with mice, serpents, and things best left unnamed, unthought, and unmentioned. The sun was more an idea than reality; there was little warmth to distinguish this day from the preceding night. Millipedes and sand-skeets ambled along the riverbank; other things chattered and twittered territorial warnings from within the stand of razor-leaf rushes surrounding what had once been…
“Kings are a different kind of slave,” Vel said, his gaze on the ruined tower, his fingers at gentle play along the warm contour of Adim’s bare arm.
“Even the dead ones?” Adim asked.
Vel laughed. “Especially the dead ones. They’re slaves to history, slaves to anything we might ever think to them. Slaves,” Vel said, trailing off, and the sentence frayed, its ending, its probabilities tattered and snatched by the breeze.
“And what are we?” Adim asked, quietly, his fingers finding Vel’s at play on his arm. A crow arrowed overhead, calling to an unseen companion. He sat with Vel, nestled against him and he felt Vel’s warmth, his heartbeat between his shoulder-blades. He was, he thought comfortable.
“I’m a shoemaker,” Vel said. “And you’re a scribe.”
For a long while after that, no one spoke. They sat, nestled against one another, arms entwined, fingers brushing, and listened for the telltale noise of cats in the castle ruins on the other side of the river.
*
This is a shot of an abandoned bit of architecture in Harvey, Illinois. It’s a part of a grain complex. There were silos and other things that have since been torn down and swept away. I saw this place on my way home from work and when I was close enough, I snapped photos of it. I’m sure to go back, at some point. There are urban explorers in Chicago who are quite interested in documenting this place. One of them is pretty good at wrangling permits out of the unlikeliest of sources, and she’s already expressed an interest in going there, and taking a group of UrbEx photographers. I’m not sure of the fate of this place, but it seems that as each year passes, there’s less and less of it.
Vel and Adim don’t live in Harvey, and so the castle ruins they’re looking at are only tangentially-related to these. Perhaps later, I’ll explore those ruins too, and reveal why a shoemaker and a scribe would be so interested in being romantic near such a place…but until then, here’s a picture. I've placed it in the "photomanipulation" genre, simply because that sky is completely, artificially produced.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope that I can catch up on viewing and commenting soon.
Comments (25)
kgb224
Superb capture and post work my friend. God Bless.
Sea_Dog
Nice work. If I had just read the narrative the image is exactly what would have formed in my mind.
Faemike55
Stunning capture and great postwork interesting story as well Excellent on both counts
RodS
A fascinating structure to be sure.... Wouldn't mind poking around there myself. Very cool capture and postwork, Chip!
bobrgallegos
Wonderful work on this awesome structure!!
MrsRatbag
I love these little slices of other-history (or his-tories?) At any rate, it's really pleasant to imagine these scenes while looking at what they're theoretically looking at...you have the magic, Chip!
auntietk
Outstanding! You have a way of making me think you've been taking pictures on other planets again. You say this is in Illinois, but it might just as easily be ... elsewhere. You did a great job on the sky. Love the image, and your story is just right to set the tone.
bmac62
A picture from the days when concrete was king. City halls, bridges, roads, foundations, railway stations, stock yards, light houses, bunkers, missile silos, launch platforms, concrete ships...and many grain elevators. Like the way you've adapted this into a tower once fit for a king.
THROBBE
Great work!!!
bimm3d
very beautiful image!!
durleybeachbum
"The sun was more an idea than reality"...Boy, can I relate to that! Superb, Chip.
Feliciti
excellent done !! bit dramatic but secure behind this walls ,like the natural colors too !!
sandra46
SUPERLATIVE CREATION
flavia49
fabulous
Sepiasiren
absolutely, fantastically beautiful--well done!
brewgirlca
I thought this might be a castle keep from Scotland, taken on a long ago trip. Hard to believe this is in or near Chicago the way you have presented it. Your postwork looks as worn as the building.
NefariousDrO
That is such a cool tower, I have fantasies of refurbishing something like that and living in it someday... I like the idea of a couple of people lazing about on a warm day looking at something like this and ruminating upon history. An activity I can easily relate too. Nice snippet of a story.
stolta
Fantastic photo!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Campo-Diaz
Excellent work.
KatesFriend
A mysterious place. Alas almost tomb like. Something about it says in a cold voice, "stay away". The scene is uneasily quiet perhaps there is a storm brewing inside ready to unleash on the outside world if disturbed.
praep
Awesome postwork. Looks like a shot after the apocalypse.
photosynthesis
Very creatively postworked & composed - fine work...
nikolais
a most surrealistic object surrealistically postworked... one of those things one could look at for hours... good luck in any further study, Chip!
minos_6
I love what you've achieved with your post work here, this really looks like a surreal painting. The colour palette is limited and creates a real mood for the piece. Beautiful work, Chip!
danapommet
This is a wonderful photo of a once proud tower Chip. I like how you linked Adim and Vel to this scene in Harvey, Illinois.