Amazing junk Photo

Photographer’s Note

There is NOTHING in Cisco. You better believe me!

And you will most probably not find it in your travel books and most probably you think that I am out of my mind to even mention this place. It is off highway I-70 and some people take the Cisco exist to drive to Arches N.P. and one day we did the same. On our way back we decided to go into “town” to see how Cisco really was, not just from the air but also from the ground. Not exactly a hot spot to be honest with you :))) but strangely enough I somehow liked it there.

There is nothing really other than some run down houses, train tracks (the only thing that is in good shape) and an incredible amount of junk standing in the desert heat. Old cars, trucks, drilling pumps, trailers etc. etc. and many “keep off” signs and I guess you better keep away and try not to enter. I had a strange feeling and I mean who would really want to live in Cisco, in the middle of the desert, with incredible hot temperatures during the summer months? Maybe I saw too many Quentin Tarantino films these days so my imagination went a little wild.

The picture shows some of the stuff that stands in the desert and how it spreads out, probably each year a little more. Wonder if they sell the stuff or if it just stands there waiting to fall apart … it is a dry heat so I guess I can visit again in some years and it is still there as ever :))))

feather, jwmunro, Sistercosmo, PixelTerror, BilboCA, Cretense, avene, crhieatt has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

npecanhuk (14652) 2009-08-22 6:52

Hello Barbara!
I loved both the picture and your comments about it!
The aerial view is excellent, with very good photo qualities and together with your words I really felt as if I were there, feeling the same strange sensations you've just described!
No, I wouldn't like to live there, but visiting those places sure is pretty interesting!
TFS - congratulations!
Best regards,
Neyvan

feather (50144) 2009-08-22 7:45

It's probably where the Cisco Kid came from! I expect that a)you're too young to have heard of him and b)nobody in Switzerland has ever heard of him! ;D
Another good aerial shot. I particularly like how the slightly curved road is holding together all the scattered houses and rubbish. You are showing us a different Utah.
Kath

Sistercosmo (2681) 2009-08-22 8:53

Hallo Barbara!

Deine Luftaufnahmen sind immer faszinierend! Und die tolle Note dazu, wirklich interessant und unterhaltsam.

Neh, mein Ort wäre es auch nicht aber das Photo ist super!

Schönes Wochenende!
Linda

jwmunro (6251) 2009-08-22 8:56

Hello Barbara -

Interesting to see it from the air as this where Joanne and I get off the freeway when we went to Moab without the trailer. The drive down the river is enjoyable and generally traffic free. You have pointed out something that Joanne and I marvel at when we travel - American's stack their junk on their property and in plain sight. Most American ranches and farms look like junk yards, while in Europe we do not see this. The farms are neat and well tended and the junk machinery is nowhere in sight. Go figure! Well framed aerial image and interesting story.

Thank you for sharing.

John

PixelTerror (86837) 2009-08-23 2:22

Salut Barbara,
Cisco ??? Hast Du Probleme mit Deinem Router gehabt und wolltest direkt an der Quelle einen neuen posten ? Das Bild würde mich nicht gerade dazu motivieren, auch von da oben betrachtet sieht man eben nur Junk, aber erstaunlicherweise bist Du die 2te Trekkerin, die Bilder von Cisco anbietet !
Scheener Sunntig, JY

delpeoples (6750) 2009-08-23 4:06

Hi Barbara, I like your title, your Note, and the original POV and composition. It looks like an abstract picture and it is really is when you get down to it. I'm not sure I'd want to travel to this place, but you have given us a really different outlook on it. TFS and have a wonderful weekend, Lisa.

BilboCA (734) 2009-08-23 11:51

Hi, Barbara,

An article in Wikipedia (authoritative? accurate? who knows...) lists Cisco, UT, as a "ghost town," whose demise paralleled the decay of the steam locomotive.

Your photo has an interesting aesthetic, contrasting the detritus of mankind with the simplicity of nature.

I like the finely resolved details including the effective color rendering.

Your note is terrific.

Regards,
- William

gunbud (28153) 2009-08-23 18:50

Hi Barbara,
This tiny settlement does look out of place on this flat empty landscape.
The various items of junk look like pox marks on the stark flat plains.
Very interesting note how you were drawn to take a look around from the ground.
Regards, Tom

Cretense (57010) 2009-08-24 3:45

Hello Barbara!

Amazing aereal photo, very interesting "nothing", great capture with impressive clarity under given conditions, great framing, composition and light managment. I remember a song by The War, "Cisco kid", I don't know if it has something to do with this particular place!

Hercules

ktanska (16695) 2009-08-25 5:20

Hi Barbara,
Isolated place in the middle of desert full of junk reminds of movie 'U Turn'.
There's no place to hide the trash and it's too probably too far to economically recycle. Interesting to see but no doubt depressive to stay there.
Kari

ciakgiak (11230) 2009-08-25 7:02

Ciao Barbara,
purtroppo a causa del mio lentissimo collegamento ad internet sono costretto a scriverti in italiano e mi scuso per questo, tra l'altro non sono riuscito a tradurre le tue interessanti note!
Ho solo potuto intuire che questo è il posto del "nulla" ma non ne ho afferrato i motivi. Comunque mi piace molto questa visione aerea che rende l'immagine quasi lunare, di grande impatto grafico.
Un carissimo abbraccio.
Giorgio

sacimar (7686) 2009-08-26 10:51

Hi Barbara,

Thank you for your picture and your note... I won't visit Cisco..... the image is impressive, we can see what are you saying in your note, good idea and well done!

Best regards

Sergio

Waylim (11153) 2009-08-26 20:28

Grusse Barbara,
Well if you composed it so nicely with a POV most of us don't get to see very often, even all the junks can look beautiful, especially from far away, way up in the sky. Everytime I pass by some small run down town, there are always a junk yard next to the house where they keep all the old cars and many things that they don't really use anymore but don't want to through them away just yet, and it is okay since they live out there. In a way I like the idea that not is gone to trash. Some thing are reusable and people should do it, but some stuff should be deposed of properly so it is not sitting there rusting aways and harm the environment. Have a good day when you get up.
Way

aadilj (17950) 2009-08-27 23:12

You leave me spell bound with sights like this barbara. The idea is fabulous and the way you have composed it is so convincingly simple yet so impossible to replicate!

wolf38 (13107) 2009-08-28 2:20

Hallo Barbara. Mann muß das Thumbnail wirklich öffnen, um überhaupt zu erkennen, worum es hier geht. Auch dieses weitere Photo vom Flugzeug aus ist eine Überraschung für die üblichen Sehgewohnheiten. Ich staune, wie Du es schaffst, diese hohe technische Qualität zu erzielen. Kompliment dafür. Viele Grüße, Wolfgang.

rikko77 (6574) 2009-09-02 4:18

Hi Barbara, nice aerial view of this "nothing". This is a true "non-place", something that really exist but it's made of...nothing. I love such places and when I travel the world I also look for such places. Even in Rome and surrounding areas it's plenty of "non-places" like this one. If I am not wrong I even "visited" Cisco last year just on the way to Arches and I even took some pics (not posted on TE though). Good idea of shooting this "nothing", well done!
have a nice day,
Rikk

burraburra (906) 2009-09-03 3:07

Hello Barbara,
Your dizzy height shots grow on me all the time.
Maybe Cisco inhabitants are related to 'Step Toe & Son'? from that English TV show in the 1970s? Nice compostion. Nice focus. Simply - Nice, nice.
Thanks for the note.
Graham.

avene (11136) 2009-09-04 19:56

this is like a scene from "Mad Max" :)
I guess you need to go up in the air to see how miserable our junk really is, how out of place it looks, and how ridiculously self-imortant we are despite the fact that we are nothing but specks on the desert floor. not sure you intended your photo to evoke this kind of emotions :) but it also means that this photo "talks", and that's what matters, right?

have a great weekend,
Kristine

danyy (69417) 2009-09-09 22:48

Bonjour Barbara,
on peut dire qu'il y a de l'altitude ici et qu'une note est bien nécessaire pour expliquer ce qu'on voit ou devrait voir.
Un rendu très naturel des couleurs dans cette photo presque satellite.
Une netteté parfaite.
Amicalement.
Daniel.

Dyerco (9296) 2009-10-07 7:53

Hi Barbara
Its amazing what you can see from the air. It probably is not as obvious from the ground. You wonder what these people do. I guess they salvage scrap for a living. I like how you created a triangle in your composition. Nicely done.
Phil

crhieatt (5145) 2009-11-01 3:54

Barbara,

........and you'll know, of course, that in many parts of Utah there is actually a legal obligation to display junk, or a least your last four cars, in your front yard. By which measure Cisco is probably the very seat of Local Government.

I think we passed this way - at lower altitude - on the road to the Fisher Towers, Moab, and all that.

Regards

Colin