Holga Blog

Once weekly we will be presenting you with another superb entry from our recent competition. The basic premise was that you had to submit at least six photos, along with a piece of writing, whether fiction, non-fiction, or poetry. The writing could be anything you want, but had to relate to the photos in some way.

The winner, Danielle, was announced last week with her beautiful poem, equally matched by her gorgeous photographs.

The community reaction we received was amazing, ALL entries were of an incredible high standard, and we are proud to present the first of the other entries this week by Brandon., entitled ‘Beauty, decay, and the American dream’.

Take it away Brandon….

Beauty, decay, and the American dream

by Brandon Cordell

In early February of 2008, I was laid off from a cushy corporate IT position. It was my first position after (not) finishing my BS in Computer Science. The declining economy and its mirror, the job market, caused me to convince my land lord to mutually end the lease on my house. In retrospect it probably wasn’t the best idea getting my first house in this economy. I sold most of my gadgets and toys (including the Rebel XTi I bought only weeks earlier) to help my disappearing bank account while the cogs of the unemployment system worked their magic.

I left my house with my Volvo packed to the roof with most of my belongings and headed home to my parents, to stay for a few weeks. I was twenty-two and living back at home for the first time since I was seventeen. Needless to say it was a metaphorical “punch in the mouth.” I always knew that not finishing my degree would come back to bite my in the ass but I figured I had some time to get back into school for that could happen. The old adage, “foresight is 20/20”, never rang so true with me before.

I began staying with a family friend to help take care of their home. We nicknamed it ‘the farm’ because of all the animals. It was always the place I would go to get away from the daily grind and forget about all of my problems for awhile. Most importantly, it was the exact opposite of my life. Instead of spending my days slaving over a Logitech ergonomic keyboard (that I had to basically fight my corporate office to buy me) and filling out (metaphoric) TPS reports, I was shoeing horses and building fences. My nine-to-five turned into a six-to-six but I couldn’t be happier. Everyone in the house was employed, the father ill in bed most days. I did my work alone which didn’t really bother me too much. I would take short breaks several times during the day to get out of the hot Florida sun.  I would sit on the shaded porch and just stare at the property thinking about what it must have looked like when the land was first cleared and the house built. It must have been absolutely beautiful.

While cleaning out one of the cluttered rooms one day I found an old Canon SLR camera body. It was an EOS 650 made approximately around 1989 (I did a little research). I had only recently become interested in photography when I was given a great deal on my (now sold) Rebel XTi. I had never shot film before although I did take a photography class in high school it was only so I could have forty-five minutes of sleep in the middle of my school day. I immediately stopped what I was doing to run to CVS to pick up a few rolls of film.  I was glad that I picked up a few extras because I actually ruined a roll trying to figure out how to load it into the camera. I frantically searched for the lens that accompanied the body, but much to my chagrin I found nothing. After browsing Ebay for a few minutes I came upon a 28-80mm Canon EF lens for $1 with no reserve. It was listed for parts but after emailing the owner back and forth I was surprised to find that the only thing wrong with it was the auto focus. Since this was not mentioned in the auction, I quickly won the lens for $1 plus shipping.

Four days later my lens arrived in a small UPS package. I practically ran to the living room, UPS box in hand, to grab the camera. Aside from the broken AF in the lens, it looked basically new. I slapped the lens on the camera and ran straight outside to take pictures. That first day I went through fourteen rolls of film just walking around the yard. As time passed I was never without this camera, I brought it everywhere with me. I began to look at everything around me differently. I began to notice my environment more so than ever. I realized I was drawn to the property I was staying at for different reasons. Instead of imagining how great everything probably was, I finding beauty in the dead trees, and rusty farm equipment. The fences were falling down, and the grass was turning brown but this was what made me love this place so much. It wasn’t the fact that I could get away from everything anymore. Instead this lovely place was forcing me to think about all my problems and giving me courage to attempt to face it all.

Without that camera and my new (viewfinder) view of the world I don’t think I would be where I am today. I’ve since moved on from there but I won’t soon forget my memories.