'Abandoned No.2'

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ABANDONED FINE ART PRINT COLLECTION | PRINT SPECIFICATIONS

Limited edition (35) prints

TEN prints released

Signed and embossed, on Hahnemuhle Museum Etching fine art paper

Sizes available: 60 x 84 cm (Including border)

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ABOUT ABANDONED No.2 

Just before Christmas (2006), we visited some friends of ours who live in the countryside just north of Pretoria (The capital city of South Africa). I love the area around their farm and my intention was to shoot some pictures during the weekend. We arrived on a Friday evening and at supper time that night the discussion turned to what I had hoped to photograph over the following two days.

I had just started shooting for the Abandoned series project. I told Willie that I was specifically looking for “thrown away” subjects.  Confused, he replied “Like what?” I replied saying buses, cars, homes, furniture, graves, caravans, you name it.  Willie mentioned that he thought he’d seen an old caravan, just a few miles away,stationary, in the middle of nowhere and off the beaten track. He suggested we go look for it in the morning.

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Early next morning I took a look at the weather outside.  To my joy a cold front had headed in overnight, bringing in heavy clouds, an abnormal weather pattern during the summertime in the South African Highveld.  I hurried Willie into the Land Rover and headed off to look for this caravan. It was one of those surreal days in my career as a photographer; everything seemed to be falling into place, as if preordained.  After a 30 minute drive we spotted what looked like a caravan far off in the distance.  It took a while to find a path that led to this abnormal dwelling.  As we came around the last corner I could hardly contain my excitement. The caravan was perfect, the weather perfect and being a Saturday, the tenant had headed to town for the day.  Honestly, it has to be one of the easiest photographs I have ever taken! I took three exposures using my digital SLR and post produced HDR (High dynamic range).

It is one of the few pictures where I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that the result would work even before photographing.  I bought Willie a couple of bottles of wine to express my gratitude and then duly assisted him in drinking them. 

Watch a video on the Abandoned Collection. CLICK HERE.