Abandoned Casino Photo

Photographer’s Note

I took this picture on a lazy Sunday in Yuma, Arizona, a pleasant bordertown near California. A few shops were open on Main Street, but there were no pedestrians except for a few senior citizens napping on public benches.

Dominating one end of Main Street was something claiming to be a casino, and from what I gathered from local merchants, it is still in operation. However, they didn't seem to be spending any money on the facade. There were three storefronts for the "casino" and they were all this trashed. This one looks like an old 1950's music hall or movie entrance. Inside the kiosk is an old chair with broken springs, litter, dirt and other signs of decades of decay. This whole building was absolutely filthy, and very sad. It is also leaning slightly, giving it an architecturally unsound appearance to me. But it must have been something in its former days.

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Critiques | Translate

olli (2091) 2004-12-14 8:03

I´m a very big fan of abandoned buildings - and shots of them. So, I like this shot a lot...
Very interesting abandoned subject (Casino!!!!).
I especially like the atmosphere, architecture, font of word "LYRIC", simplicity and "washed overall tones". Very-very well done, Michael.

Well, I would crop the image a bit tighter – posted a WS...

SophieL (6028) 2004-12-14 13:07

It's indeed a weird place, and a great picture. I like the symetry of your composition, the contrast between the word "lyric" and the obvious signs of decay (must not sing much anymore), and the faded-dirty blue colors. It reminds me of a Wim Wenders' road movie. Very well done.

SueBusko (0) 2008-02-19 20:25 [Comment]

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