Old West Ghost Town | Black and White Photography

Weathered Buildings Still Standing in Bodie California

These two buildings look almost too perfectly Old West to be real.

I photographed them in Bodie, California, in 2009. Bodie is a genuine American ghost town, and what fascinated me was how much of the place still felt intact. I wasn't looking at a recreation or a movie set. These buildings had simply survived, weathering decade after decade in the dry California landscape.

The contrast between the two structures immediately caught my attention.

On the left, the brick building still feels remarkably formal, with its repeating arched windows and carefully laid masonry. Beside it, the wooden building has aged very differently. Its boards are bleached and scarred, the storefront windows have darkened, and a large faded sign remains barely visible across the upper facade.

I composed the photograph straight on because I wanted the buildings to stand almost like a portrait. Side by side. Nothing modern interrupts them. Even the empty land stretching away on either side reinforces the isolation.

Black and white seemed inevitable here. It concentrates my attention on the cracked wood, old brick, dusty glass and the extraordinary differences in texture between the two buildings. It also removes another layer of time. Without color, I find it much harder to immediately place the photograph in the present.

That's what I remember most about Bodie.

The town doesn't feel rebuilt for visitors. It feels interrupted.

These buildings are still standing where people once worked, gathered and watched the town outside their windows. The people disappeared long ago. The architecture remains.

© Dan Kosmayer, 2009