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The faded beauty of abandoned cars across Europe and the US
- Kaibeezy 6y agoShould self-driving cars be required to have a failsafe where under specific parameters of disuse and remaining power they drive themselves to a repair or storage facility, like my robot vacuum does? Probably not.
- modzu 6y agoits cool and brought back memories of some old abandoned cars ive happened across on hikes over the years. but that level of hdr.. oh my.
- 205guy 6y agoBecause of the extensive photoshopping (and HDR as the other comment mentions), none of these photos look real to me, more like a video game background. Which I think is a shame, because I like ruins and scenes of industrial decay, so I do like the subject matter. And the author clearly did a lot of work to find these old cars and photograph their interesting character. I understand the desire to fix the light (and certainly the dark forest settings were difficult to capture), but it just looks overdone to me, no longer real life.
- Ididntdothis 6y agoI guess it's a matter of taste. Your probably could process them in different ways. Maybe a gritty black and white would work.
- ekianjo 6y agoWe don't see much "real pictures" anymore - everything is so edited to the max (extreme saturation, filtering, color adjustment, unreal sharpening, boosted highlights) that pictures look fake about everywhere now. At least if it were done in a subtle way I would not mind, but 90% have no taste when doing it.
- Moru 6y agoIt's also about your monitor compared to the editors monitor. Those cheap displays that are set to look good in the store next to all the others will make you do things to photos that won't look good anywhere.
- mcbuilder 6y agoMaybe check out Kyle McDougall, he is a photographer interested in similar themes (decayed motels, cars, ghost towns, etc), but his photographs are much more compelling. Edit: link to his website https://www.kylemcdougallphoto.com/ https://www.kylemcdougallphoto.com/
- a012 6y agoThanks for the link, I have an impression of Kodak Portra film on his photos.
- ThrowItAway2Day 6y agoCheck out his YouTube channel, that's one of his favorite film stocks.
- 205guy 6y agoThose are nice, and they remind me of pulling the exposure with film (overexposure and under-developed) to give that slightly washed out look. But it works with his subjects—and still looks natural to me—because it matches the bright light and slight haze of the high plains and desert. BTW, I found the original submission photos to be compelling, very cool compositions just jarring colors.
- Kaibeezy 6y agoI really like those. Thanks for the link. At the other end of this same spectrum, there’s Troy Paiva, who has gotten quite a bit of press for nighttime “light painting” of abandoned aircraft, cars, rural buildings, etc. https://lostamerica.com/photo-items/the-mojave-airport-boneyard/ https://lostamerica.com/photo-items/the-mojave-airport-boney...
- mc32 6y agoThose remind me of a Stephen Shore aesthetic but maybe with less social commentary.
- ThrowItAway2Day 6y agoMy personal favorite photographer on social media is Nick Carver out of Orange County, CA. He covers similar themes (Americana, forgotten architecture, desert landscapes) all on medium and large format film. He walks through his techniques and is very enjoyable to listen to!
- ordu 6y ago> I understand the desire to fix the light (and certainly the dark forest settings were difficult to capture), but it just looks overdone to me, no longer real life. It seems for me, that the goal of editing was not to fix the light, but to move away from real life. Probably something along lines "to reduce level of detail, to let onlooker's mind to fill gaps in details by itself". Or maybe not: this possible explanation is a result of my mind filling gaps, so it is a projection of my mind onto reality which speaks more about me than about reality.
- 205guy 6y agoYou’re probably right that the photographer intended to make the images slightly surreal on purpose, and then it’s a matter of taste whether it resonates with the viewer. I suppose all I’m saying is that I prefer to see photography that is still based on real conditions. I realize all photos are enhanced, either in post or in the phone camera. Sometimes it’s necessary to “fix” bad lighting or make something “pop,” but I prefer it when it’s subtle and still realistic. Ansel Adams tweaked the heck out of his prints (contrast and dodging and burning), but the result still looks like a natural scene, as it might appear when the light is just right. Instagram filters have the same problem, they might convey a mood but many of them look unnatural, for example an outdoor shot with fluorescent sunlight. I probably shouldn’t call it a problem, it’s just an artistic statement (for example choosing a hue to match the mood), though with filters it does feel a bit commodified nowadays.
- saiya-jin 6y agoThis is highly subjective, what one likes another doesn't, and over-processing photography is definitely there. Kind of artistic taste topic, one reveres Rembrandt school and another Warhol/Picasso. I for one agree with OP - fix what you can from RAW since it rarely looks like reality, unless having ideal lighting conditions. But this 'overprocessing' (aka moving away from real look) is too much for me, I like how reality looks like already. I see it everywhere these days - street photography, landscapes, even portraits. Folks often tend to do the same effect over and over for all photos, so everything looks the same. Almost like copy&paste in Lightroom. I mean great photos done in full frame/medium format cameras, then changed to look way too unrealistic. I've done similar when I was beginning in photography with 'the more the better' logic, but the appeal is just not there anymore.
- throwanem 6y agoOkay? And? Go take your own shots and develop them however you see fit. Purely documentary photography only happens in news stories, crime scenes, surgical theaters, and morgues. Everything else is art, to some greater or lesser degree. If you don't like impressionism or whatever, fine, but you add nothing to the conversation in just saying "this is bad because I don't like it" as if that had any use to anyone - that's not even valid criticism, which is an embarrassingly low bar to fail to clear.
- gherkinnn 6y agoI agree. Reminds me of the HDR craze around 2010.
- samizdis 6y ago> I like ruins and scenes of industrial decay You might well like this: https://www.abandonedamerica.us/ https://www.abandonedamerica.us/
- mc32 6y agoSome of them are way overdone. So much so they’re hard to look at because they look garish. Others are more muted and add some “atmosphere”. Overall I agree that natural light or even stage lights would have been preferred.
- olivermarks 6y agoA lot of these 'abandoned' cars are valuable at this point. There's a forest near Chatillon in Belgium where US servicemen parked their cars at the end of WWII, hoping to return one day and retrieve them. https://www.digitaltrends.com/dtdesign/belgian-car-graveyard-revisited/ https://www.digitaltrends.com/dtdesign/belgian-car-graveyard...
- userbinator 6y agoBased on the popularity of YouTube channels aimed at restoring or even just getting abandoned cars' engines to start, I'd say they have a lot more than just intrinsic value. (It makes me wonder if, e.g. 50 or 60 years from now, people will be finding abandoned Teslas and such and trying to get them moving again.)
- olivermarks 6y agoThe beauty of older cars are their simplicity and the fact they were designed to be owner maintained. Teslas and virtually all modern cars require expensive unique software diagnostic tools, getting past drm hurdles and a lack of workshop manuals. Modern cars are also typically sold with services packages included for a 3 year/mileage amount after which value drops significantly. It would be great to get back to basics with a simple EV that is owner servicable in the future
- dreamcompiler 6y agoOTOH electric cars are much simpler than IC cars, so getting one running again in 70 years will probably be mostly an issue of finding a new battery.
- redis_mlc 6y ago> OTOH electric cars are much simpler than IC cars Unfortunately, not in the case of Tesla. Every subsystem is a computer, even the door handles. Also, the battery is at the wheel level, so Teslas are more prone to flood damage than any other car. If you buy a Tesla, get a warranty.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- FpUser 6y agoI love ruins and old things in general. Often photograph those myself. However the ones mentioned here look over-processed to me.
- roel_v 6y agoReminds me of this one from a few years ago: https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/classic-cars-abandoned-for-decades-in-french-barn-valued-at-20-million/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/classic-cars-abandoned... Seems like straight out of a boys book - abandoned shed, dozens of cars stored in there, nobody knows that they're so valuable. I don't know anything about cars but from looking at the pictures in the OP, I can't help but think that some of them would be worth quite a bit? Certainly more than the scrap metal value?
- Ididntdothis 6y agoMost likely they are worth nothing. This is like finding an expensive painting at a yard sale. It happens, but very, very, very rarely.
- WalterBright 6y agoI know that people build replicas of expensive Ferraris. But they always seem to take a shortcut and put a modern engine/driveline in it. Most of the magic of a Ferrari is in the engine, driveline and running gear. When some Ferraris fetch north of $20m, if I was super rich and wanted one, I'd just have a machine shop build a duplicate - including the engine, etc. It can't be that expensive to do it, after all, the originals were built in a machine shop.
- djaychela 6y agoI think the value of these cars is in their rarity and originality - the replica would be worth a tiny fraction of that, because its not original, and many buy them because of their investment potential not because they are a great car to drive (a lot don't get driven as it reduces the value and is risky). Also, don't underestimate the cost involved in making something like this. While obviously not $20m, having every part created from scratch involves creating accurate drawings and understanding the specifications of the materials and processes involved, which isn't simple. Even creating a replacement set of gears for an existing gearbox takes an immense amount of investment in time, and creating something complex such as an engine block or gearbox casing would be considerably more. Yes, the originals were built in a machine shop, but also a foundry, and a design department, with a larger supply chain for many of the smaller components, and you'd need to replicators, or all of their work - a substantial effort.
- gregoryrueda 6y agoThe Japanese call this wabi sabi, the authentic earned look of aging/rusting.
- isoprophlex 6y ago... upon which we then apply gratuitous HDR and oversaturation in post processing
- Akinato 6y agoThese would be cool photos if they weren't so overly processed. The current technique makes them look like poorly composited images.
- RickJWagner 6y agoNice. I've been a gearhead for nearly 50 years now, I just like cars. Lately my thoughts have been turning to Teslas. It feels weird, almost like I'm losing part of myself.
- Gibbon1 6y agoI'm not a gear head but I feel it, a whole esthetic and art is starting to slip away. 250 years of thermal machines and it'll be gone in a generation.
- pgreenwood 6y agoLove the subject matter but the hyper saturated over blown HDR makes me feel like I have a brown acid hangover. HDR is great, but if you can tell it's there its too much.
- fireattack 6y agoSince we're on this topic, is there any explanation why these over-processed images (particularly when they're over-sharpened) make me physiologically uncomfortable/disgusted? Like, literally vomit-inducing.
- PureParadigm 6y agoMaybe something to do with the uncanny valley [1]? It's mostly real, but just fake enough to feel... off. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley
- bagels 6y agoLiterally? Surely that is an exaggeration?
- isoprophlex 6y agoMaybe not; those deep dream zoom videos that were popular some years back made me physically uncomfortable to the point of nausea and bad lightheadedness ..!
- fireattack 6y agoIt's a very milder one but yes. These images (the ones in OP aren't that bad, but some in /r/shittyHDR [1] definitely) do make me uncomfortable in a way similar to these "Deep Dream" images. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/shittyHDR/ https://www.reddit.com/r/shittyHDR/
- someperson 6y agoProbably an evolutionary response for ingestion of psychedelic compounds? I would also like to know more so if you know the name of this phenomenon please share.
- alex_young 6y agoShow us some rust!
- sixstringtheory 6y agoThere was a 99PI episode about abandoned cars here in Alaska: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/dead-cars/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/dead-cars/ Plenty of specimens around my neck of the woods. Also many grizzly twisted wrecks laying on the side of the road. Good reminders to drive carefully in a place where you could be hours or days away from help!
- extro 6y agoTastelessly overdone HDR is ____.
- mirimir 6y agoFYI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carhenge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carhenge
- Tade0 6y agoComing from a country where the average age of cars is over 14 years, I'm afraid that modern vehicles won't look nearly as good abandoned and exposed to the elements. I've seen my share of VW Passat B3, B4 and B5s rusting away around allotments and they bring to mind images of illegally disposed of appliances like washing machines etc. Farming equipment on the other hand - new and old - doesn't give off this vibe. Perhaps being designed to bury into dirt they don't invoke an expectation of being clean and tidy.
- kristiandupont 6y agoI am a sucker for these. I don't know what it is about decay that just piques my interest, no matter which era it might be from. There are a bunch of channels for similar pictures if you are interested: https://www.reddit.com/r/AbandonedPorn/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AbandonedPorn/ https://www.instagram.com/itsabandoned/ https://www.instagram.com/itsabandoned/ https://www.instagram.com/abandonedafterdark/ https://www.instagram.com/abandonedafterdark/
- brenden2 6y agoJust looks like trash with too much photo editing to me. It's kind of funny because I did a trash photo exhibit a few years back where I literally took photos of trash with good lighting and such. The photos were aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, but it was literally trash.
- eiji 6y agoWhenever I travel down to the desert south-west (Arizona, Texas, NM, ...) I'm amazed how many abandoned or half-abandoned (still on private property) cars there are everywhere visible. It must be a mix of better weather and them not rusting down in matter of month when outside instead of a garage, and different regulation not enforcing their removal.
- ndespres 6y agoI'm in upstate New York where even the cars I drive regularly are rusting out constantly, to say nothing of the rusted junk that doesn't get used. When I bought my house and talked to the homeowner insurance agent about risks on the property they asked if I had any abandoned junk cars in the yard. When I said no, she said "you will." Nearly everyone here has some junk cars sitting around rotting, whether it's a future project that they'll never do, spare parts for another vehicle, or just something they know that a pinch they can roll down to the scrap yard for $100-200 (or waiting for the price of scrap metal to rise again so maybe they can get $400).
- d0100 6y agoAre these salvageable? And is it legal to just take them and use them?
- driverdan 6y agoIf you enjoy this type of thing you might like Barn Find Hunter, a YT series about traveling around the US and finding stored cars in various states: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHKCmmH-x9mLN0PNeFBtxyZ7olwptkO5q https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHKCmmH-x9mLN0PNeFBtx...
- izzydata 6y agoMaybe it is just me, but I find these vehicles to be a gross blemish on an otherwise beautiful scene. Like a natural wonder that has been destroyed by humans.
- vagab0nd 6y agoSomewhat related: There's a car that's parked in front of my house, on the street, for over a year now. Never moved, no sign, just parked there. I find it hilarious and annoying that there's no legal way for me to report it, or have the authority check the owner. Is it stolen? Abandoned? It just seems wrong that a car can be legally parked at one spot for so long.