After fourteen or so years of being here on Flickr, I have decided to totally revamp my photostream. For me, black and white, square format evoke a more traditional style of photography and portray the mood of the subject matter much better than colour and wider shots. The images you see here are mostly taken with my phone cameras. A few are taken with my Pentax's. There are more images also taken with my Pentax's, however, I have yet to get around to processing them. That is a project in itself that will be a major undertaking in the future..

 

The images you see here date back to around the middle of 2011. Many countless hours and days of research, road trip planning, and thousands of miles, or kilometres, have been driven to get to the destinations.

 

An ever growing number of the structures are no more now. They have met their final demise either by human hands, or Mother Nature has dealt with them. Rodent infestations, fire, the natural elements are all reasons to take them down. Insurance companies will not insure the structures, and if they do, it is an exorbitant cost to the owners.

 

A great deal of those left are standing and waiting for their end to come. It's a shame these iconic sentinels of the prairies cannot last forever. I, and others like me are doing what we can to at least preserve them either on film, or digitally for future generations to see. Of course, an image cannot replace the real thing, but at least we are making a strong attempt to capture part of our history and heritage.

 

Fortunately, there are some groups who have found ways to save a few here and there, have carefully and painstakingly restored them and turned them into museums. However, doing so comes at a great monetary cost. Nothing is free in this world, and sadly, nothing lasts forever.

 

So, this is a work in progress. You will notice a great deal of grain elevators, and then some wooden railway water towers. Eventually I will be adding railway stations as well. These three railway related structures were the centre of activity in the small prairie towns. With modernization and progress there are fewer of these small towns to support the railway, elevators etc. Many towns have turned into ghost towns, or they have completely disappeared off of the map.

 

So please, enjoy the images you see here. They are scattered from all over western Canada, from British Columbia to Manitoba. I hope to be able to get back out on the road in the future and capture more. This will be a work in progress for the foreseeable future.

  

“The most colorful thing in the world is black and white, it contains all colors and at the same time excludes all.”

― Vikrmn, 10 Alone

  

Andy

May 01, 2023

 

Update:

 

My camera doesn't just photograph in square format, black and white. And it photographs subject matter other than grain elevators, water towers and railway stations. Hence, I've resurrected my old photostream, The Bear Den, to showcase work taken only with my Pentax K1 Mark II that are in colour and not connected to the theme here in The Bear Den Photography.

 

You can view The Bear Den via this link... flic.kr/ps/42YFF8

  

September 30, 2023