“If These Walls Could Talk”
The second blog post in a photographic tribute series – by Caryn Esplin
As you walk through the buildings at Bannack Ghost Town you get a glimpse into the past. You can feel the history as you count the numerous layers of wallpaper, wood, and linoleum. Peeling paint, leftover artifacts and colorful, empty rooms leave you wishing walls could talk. You envision the people who moved in and out of the buildings with the changing cycles of a gold mining boom town.
These images are gorgeous. I definitely see some very creative angles of the old buildings of Bannack. They are definitely unique. You can really catch the history of the town in each image. What a wonderful tribute to Bannack. I hope to return to the park once it reopens.
Thanks, AJ! I am planning to go to back to Bannack one of these days: Sept. 26-29. They are not open yet, but plan to be soon. They are having an awesome “Living History” event those days, where they set buildings up like they were back in the day. They have things for sale in the General Store that are true to that time period and people are dressed up and carrying out their day-to-day activities. I think shooting that will be awesome! Thanks for the comment. I will still have at least one more Bannack post, scheduled to post while we are at Photoshop World. Those images will be from the doctor’s house. I have had a blast capturing images at Bannack this summer. I have planned to do this for several years, so it was nice to come through with one of my self-assignments at such a good time, just before the flood. Now I am anxious to photograph things after the flood too. I also just joined the Bannack Association, the non-profit that runs the fundraisers, etc. It was a privilege to donate some framed prints for the auction. I do love that place. 🙂
Well that does sound like fun. I would die to go to that. Now I need to come up with a self -assignment to do on my spare time, so stay tuned.
What an awesome photo series!!! And a great a tribute to Bannack ghost town and the many times they let us in to photograph it’s vast personality. 🙂
Many of these photos certainly capture the unique personality of Bannack! That’s the best part… the story. Thanks for sharing!
Love these. Soft touches take away some of the gritty-ness that you feel when your actually in the rooms. Giving them a look as though people are still living here, sewing by the window or cooking bread in the oven! Well done
Thanks, Tim! You made it sound better than I could have imagined!
These images are great! I really like the texture in all of these photos. And the second photo down, taken at the mill with the light coming through! That’s one of my favorite ones on here. How did you get that?
Thanks, Danny. For that shot, I had the camera on a tripod, of course. Then I zoomed the lens with a slow shutter speed, to streak the light. I can show you when we go to Bannack in October. It will be interesting to see how they recovered from the flood!