Thursday, October 28, 2010

Yellow Journalism, or is it just Graffiti?

The Thematic Photographic for this week is “Yellow”, and I immediately thought of this picture: Out on the shore of the Great Salt Lake, about 20 miles outside of the city, there is, was and has been an events center called Saltair.  It’s been around since 1893 and has burned to the ground and been rebuilt several times over the years.  The last time it burned was in the early 70’s, which inspired a University of Utah film students to produce a movie called “Attack of the Giant Brine Shrimp”.

But I digress.  This picture, and the next one, were taken right by Saltair, where there are several train cars abandoned and taken over by graffiti.  I liked this one in particular because it wasn’t your standard graffiti, it kind of has a peaceful feel about it for me. This is on one of the trains in the same area.  If I remember correctly (these were taken in 2007) the yellow in the first picture was connected to the train, I think it was used as a gift shop for Saltair. This last picture was taken during the renovation of the Redman Storage building right down the street from my house.  It was one of the historic Sugarhouse buildings that, in my opinion, has been lost even though it’s been renovated.  The renovation kept absolutely none of the characteristics of the original building, other than the “Redman” sign which isn’t even the original, and as far as I can see might as well have been completely torn down and replaced.

Well, there are my Yellow pictures.

11 comments:

A Paperback Writer said...

Oh, very nice. I've never seen these.

Mustang Sally said...

I may be one of the only adults I know that actually likes graffiti *shrugs* I especially like that second shot.

21 Wits said...

Ah yes touching on all the yellow, very nicely done!

CorvusCorax12 said...

love it...first one is my favourit

Gilly said...

I really like the angel one!! It made me smile (always a good thing!)

Max Sartin said...

For 2 years I rode the light rail system in our city from work to the University for my Master's degree, and saw a lot of graffiti on the buildings along the way. Some of it was trashy gang crap, some of it was quite beautiful and artistic. I have also argued the artistic value of graffiti with many a student over the years, and came to one conclusion: no matter how beautiful it is, if it is done on someone's property without their permission, it's vandalism. That is the only objection I have to it.

Glennis said...

Fascinating place! I've never heard of it, but what a history! I love the graffiti, too.

Somewhere round about said...

of course, on someone elses property+ without their permission it's vandelism....
....Yet so very many people grow up never having the chance to make their ( quite literal ) marks....never having the chance to design Big and have someone say : That Is Great!
Come to think of it, also never having their chance to design small and have their folks say That's Brilliant, I Am So Proud Of You....

Where do people go to learn to play?
I guess they go to abandoned places and make their marks, as we have always done.

Thank you for posting these, i love them :)

Alexia said...

Really interesting shots. I'm a graffiti fan too. Thanks Max!

carmilevy said...

You remind me that I need to get out more often and find the places around here with histories and back stories. I love how you tell a story with words and pictures!

I think the graffiti definition is a relative thing. To some, it's art. To others, it's simply a blight on the urban landscape. Same thing with weeds: They're either lovely flowers or nuisances. Depends on where you sit, I guess.

Max Sartin said...

My only absolute on the graffiti debate is when it's on public or private property without consent, it's still vandalism.
I also have another story about a local place that you might find interesting on my other blog. Haunted Old Mill.