gregariousgoats-blog

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Maybe this structure was once used to display some sort of sign. From a lot next to the 7/11 (a section of Summit that is both physically separate and visually distinct from the rest of the downtown area).

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My cousin once-removed. It was deemed that the outfit she wore to her christening celebration was insufficiently documented. These photos are from the (largely unsuccessful) attempt to get a social media-worthy shot of her in said outfit.

#unhappybaby

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The background material for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons makes frequent reference to Law and Chaos as opposing forces in the universe (as distinct from but also related to Good and Evil). The tension between Law and Chaos is what comes to my mind when I look at these images. 

It’s probably not too hard to figure out what represents what in the two scenes, but it’s interesting for me to think about who the agents of “Chaos” are in each. In the first image, the dirt/muck on the sign seems likely to have been put there by natural forces (a notion affirmed by the trees that fill the background). 

In the second image, who put all that trash right in front of that carefully manicured garden? Was it some people hired to move things into the house? People hired to clean the house? Maybe it was the house’s occupants themselves, excessively eager to be rid of all this cardboard and apathetic to the effect the detritus would have on the aesthetics of their front yard. Then again, maybe this scene is the result of someone participating in the town’s recycling schedule in a manner deemed acceptable by all involved (a situation that would ultimately not be so “Chaotic”). 

#dnd #butIRL

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Talk about mixed messages.

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I am fond of the Y, both as an institution advocating for an inclusive and healthy community and as a building with interestingly aging front steps. 

Also up to the previous post I was grouping photos in a post by the day they were taken but I think I’m going to instead start posting them by theme and spreading out photos among more posts.

Also I haven’t posted in forever since I was traveling and then too sick to leave the house, but hopefully soon I will get back into the habit of wandering around. 

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Homelessness is an often-ignored problem in Summit. According to http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org, the nearest shelter is almost five miles away. Pictured here are belongings of homeless people stored in different parts of the same small section of a park in downtown Summit. 

  Pictured also is the Summit train station, which sits directly across the street from said park. As one of the town’s only public buildings, and probably the only public building accessible late at night, the train station is a primary source of shelter for Summit’s homeless population. 

  In addition to its status as a reliable source of shelter, the station sees frequent use by those commuting into the city to high-paying jobs, as well as those visiting for an evening or a day. 

By providing direct access to downtown Manhattan, the train station embodies much of what makes Summit desirable as a place to live, and acts as a vector of the cultural and economic forces that define the town and the region. 

The train station is thus a space where Summit’s socioeconomic extremes are juxtaposed, as well as a space whose functions have been shaped by the community to extend beyond those intended by its designers.

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A return to the rooftop and an expedition into the woods.

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A particularly acute example of obscured and unnoticed industrial decay nestled among suburban neighborhoods: several abandoned greenhouses in the woods near a park in New Providence, NJ. I’ll need to come back here once I’ve figured out the camera settings a little more; the irregular lighting (read: my inadequacy) prevented most of the photos I took from coming out well. This place is really beautiful. Shoutout to Val for her unflinchingly adventurous spirit and her willingness to drive me around.

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A breakthrough: the top level of a parking deck provides a unique perspective on the town of Summit, NJ. Though the photos of the tops of buildings are neither aesthetically pleasing nor shot particularly well, they are good examples of the kinds of ugly industry I would like to uncover. The top of the stairwell of this structure has escaped the upkeep that most public buildings in Summit enjoy.

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So much of suburban life is carefully manicured, beautiful, and therefore boring. I have a desire to highlight elements of suburban life that are intentionally hidden and passed over: evidence of industry, decay, and crime, to give a few examples. (This desire is only partially manifest in this particular set of photos.)

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First attempt at figuring out camera settings. B kindly volunteered to drive me and model.