Forbidden Factory Fruits . . .

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While in Italy in June, we were out wandering around one afternoon when we stumbled on an abandoned factory purely by chance. I had been secretly hoping something like this might happen, but it remained a sort of distant hope, as I hadn't done any research, and we weren't actively seeking such places. But if we didn't find it, it certainly found us.
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I took a first long look at it under a blue Italian sky, took in the gutted windows and collapsing roof, and said, "yes, yes indeed, this is exactly what I've been looking for..."
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And it seemed to answer by giving off a flare of burnt sienna golden light . . .
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A smokestack stood still in a field gazing up through its one good eye at the heavenly blue depths of the sky...
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The geometry of abandoned architecture stood stark in the streaming late afternoon sunlight...
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A gaping green door was beckoning, partially obscured by brambles...
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I fought my way through to find myself in someone's living room, the sofa had seen better days...
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They had lawn chairs, and even a television set...
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Windows had been bricked up, blocking a bit of the view...
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Odd gadgets hung from the walls...
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Perilous stairs led to upper levels, not for the faint of heart...
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A work of modern art caught my full attention, Pollock could hardly have done better...
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Floor tiles partially covered by debris formed more modern art...
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From the highest floor visible in the first photo above, a room with a view...
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More perilous stairs...
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Heaven only knows what went on in a box like this, perhaps better not to know...
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On the upper floors one had to be very careful where one stepped, as holes like this were plentiful, often with long drops below them...
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More geometry of the abandoned, in subtle colors...
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The end of a roof...
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No smoking...
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I don't know exactly what was in this large pile of paper sacks, I wasn't tempted to get too close or to stir up the dust on the floor...
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If photographed with infrared film I imagined they might have appeared almost radioactive...
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Some kind soul had left a message, a statement, a wish ?
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A Little Skullduggery in Italy . . .

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While travelling in Italy recently, we came across a rather surprising number of death's head images and skulls in various places. It seemed like nearly every time I turned around another "tête de mort" was leering out at me in one form or another. So I don't mean to be macabre or ghoulish, but assembled below are nearly all the death's heads encountered and photographed in Asti, Florence, Siena, Perugia, and Genoa, over a two week period. Apparently this theme in public "art" is more prevalent in Italy than it is in France, for whatever reasons. Vanitas ? No doubt such imagery helps remind us that life is short... to be enjoyed while we can. Many of them were quite old, some going back hundreds of years. Others, like the graffiti spray painted on a brick wall were very recent. A timeless subject.
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