Some new photos from Fort Wayne

Chris, I've just noticed that your original photographs were taken on Covington Road. I live in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the tiny village of Covington is a few miles down the road from my home. I wonder if someone from old world Covington founded the town of Covington in the USA. Any ideas?
 
Borghesia said:
Very folkloristic, you won't see this kind of patriotism in Europe. Here it is mostly forbidden to put up a national flag besides the few national festivities. Even wearing a little national flag on a button or sewed on a jacket would make you very suspicious around here.
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depends on country and region etc.
 
Chris,

As always, thanks for posting your work. I always enjoy it. You do a great job of depicting the vanishing details of 20th century USA such as the bowling alley and the ugly side of today's society, like the ubiquitous payday loan places.

I can't resist bowling alleys either.

Chip
 
sailor said:
Chris, I've just noticed that your original photographs were taken on Covington Road. I live in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the tiny village of Covington is a few miles down the road from my home. I wonder if someone from old world Covington founded the town of Covington in the USA. Any ideas?
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There isn't a town called Covington where I live. Its just the name of a road through the west side of the city of Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne is a pretty big city, about 250,000 people.
 
brewers-art.jpg


Here is another photo from a couple days ago.

This colorful storefront on Wells Street is Brewers Art Supply, a store that sells equipment and materials for making beer and wine at home.

The building used to be home to Artistry In Ink Tattoo, and the owners of the homebrewing store kept the colorfully painted facade, changing the words from Piercing and Tattooing to Homebrewing and Winemaking.

The door closing off the space between the building and the Mexican ice cream parlor next door still has the Snap One graffiti on it, which I photographed in 2010.
 
seguro.jpg


Another one from a few days ago.

The name of this business on Wells Street means "Security for Latinos." It is an insurance agency catering to Mexican immigrants. Wells Street has become home to several Hispanic businesses in the last few years, including a restaurant, an ice cream parlor, and a bakery.
 
mcarthur-estates.jpg


I've always found it amusing how often the word "Estates" finds its way into the names of trailer parks. McArthur Estates is on McArthur Drive in Waynedale, but there are a number of other mobile home communities in the Fort Wayne area named "______ Estates."

I made this photograph yesterday evening.
 
victoriapio said:
Chris, again I really like this series. In addition to the color and rendering, I like your framing too.
O.C.
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Thanks :) Here's another one I shot yesterday afternoon in Fort Wayne.

mechanix-unlimited1.jpg


This sign is on the side of Mechanix Unlimited, an auto repair garage on Jefferson Boulevard in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. It says "Sept. 11, 2001. God Bless the U.S.A."
 
mechanix-unlimited2.jpg


I had wanted to photograph the sign on the end of the building commemorating the September 11 terrorist attacks for a while, but the sign over the office door intrigued me even more: "The big ole bank was bold, shop owner refused to fold. Congratulations Marika Hamilton."

I shot this the same day as the color photo of Mechanix Unlimited in my previous post.
 
buy-this-home.jpg


The sign on the front door of this old house on Butler Street in Fort Wayne's inner city says "Buy This Home $395 per month."

Looks like the owner has started fixing it up. The padlock on the door above the deadbolt and doorknob locks says a lot about the location!
 
worth-doing-right.jpg


Another one from yesterday afternoon.

This billboard is next to the former Devoe Paint store on Lafayette Street in Fort Wayne. The store has been closed for years, and the building now houses a woodworking shop.
 
glenbrook-dodge-flag.jpg


This gigantic American flag, which flies over Glenbrook Dodge Chrysler Jeep, can be seen for miles; it is the largest flag in Fort Wayne. I thought that the company had gotten the flag soon after the September 11 terrorist attacks, but their website says that the flag was installed in 2004. It measures 50x80 feet, and flies from a 232 foot tall flagpole!

Friends in other parts of the United States have told me that the biggest American flags in their cities are also flown by car dealers. I wonder why that is?
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
Friends in other parts of the United States have told me that the biggest American flags in their cities are also flown by car dealers. I wonder why that is?
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Pardon my cynicism, but I'd guess the flags are not flown by Toyota dealers (or Hyundai, or BMW etc.). Perhaps the dealers want customers focused more on patriotism than on the qualities of the products they're selling. Portraying "patriotism", as a form of "marketing", is pretty widespread - in the US and elsewhere (it's pretty common here).

I think you've done an excellent job with that photo, by the way.

...Mike
 
mfunnell said:
Pardon my cynicism, but I'd guess the flags are not flown by Toyota dealers (or Hyundai, or BMW etc.). Perhaps the dealers want customers focused more on patriotism than on the qualities of the products they're selling. Portraying "patriotism", as a form of "marketing", is pretty widespread - in the US and elsewhere (it's pretty common here).

I think you've done an excellent job with that photo, by the way.

...Mike
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Thanks Mike. A lot of Toyotas and Hondas and even some BMW models are now built in the United States, and that fact is advertised by the companies when they push the particular models that are American made.

Going back to photography, Fuji used to make some of their film and color paper in the USA too. Making stuff here let Japanese manufacturers avoid the import tariffs and the cost of shipping the finished products halfway around the world. I've been fascinated by the fact that Japanese and German companies are opening factories here.
 
taqueria-coahuila.jpg


Taqueria Coahuila looks like it was lifted from a small town in Mexico and dropped into Fort Wayne's inner city. A taqueria is a restaurant that specializes in tacos, and this place is the real thing, not the Americanized simulation of comida Mexicana found at most "Mexican" restaurants in the United States.

Taqueria Coahuila is on South Clinton Street, a couple blocks north of South Side High School. I ate there with a friend six or seven years ago. The owners and employees were all immigrants from Mexico who didn't speak English well (and I didn't speak Spanish back then like I do now), but the food was great.

I photographed Taqueria Coahuila a few days ago.
 
Great photos! I like both the color and black & white versions of the vacuum cleaner store. I also like the flag photos and the way different people have responded to them. I haven't gone out on a photo shooting expedition in some time. The weather looks good here for the weekend and I am feeling motivated.
 
Chris would you say your photographs are a good reflection of large swathes of Fort Wayne, or are you drawn to the more depressed areas. I always get a great sense of loss in your images, of a town the economy has passed by, and wondered how you feel about the document your making.
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
This gigantic American flag, which flies over Glenbrook Dodge Chrysler Jeep, can be seen for miles; it is the largest flag in Fort Wayne. I thought that the company had gotten the flag soon after the September 11 terrorist attacks, but their website says that the flag was installed in 2004. It measures 50x80 feet, and flies from a 232 foot tall flagpole!

Friends in other parts of the United States have told me that the biggest American flags in their cities are also flown by car dealers. I wonder why that is?
Click to expand...

Little known, less observed:

4 USC § 8 - RESPECT FOR FLAG
The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever...

.
 
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