Often times projects I am working on show me sights and views noone has seen before or have not seen in a very long time.
Slowly but surely it is getting warmer out and the city is transforming from the misery of winter to the beauty of spring and summer, which has me working on some exciting projects.
Yes that is correct. Holyoke in fact does have it's own social network. How many other cities have their own social network that has lead to amazing social changes and social practices? Like I said the day of the St. Patricks Day parade, small towns/cities know how to do it. C.R.U.S.H is an amazing group of people who have come together with one cause, one care, one concern, one common "crush on the city." You may not be from the city, currently living in the city, but that doesn't mean you do not have a crush on Holyoke. Check it, become a member, contribute.
I put a note up on Facebook the other day pertaining to the sever stigma that the city is faced with.
"A few weeks back I had an interaction with a woman who refused to go to Holyoke, causing me to lose a client. It is unfortunate for her, as the service I would have provided is nearly impossible to find else where. Her response to where we are located, "the people with the guns will steal my brand new car." A comment that will not be forgetten anytime soon. I gave a short response and allowed her to make her comments and bid her a good afternoon. Moving forward a few weeks, on Friday after returning from Vermont, I took a few hours to meander around the city, make some photographs, and enjoy one of the first nicestes days of the season. With most of the snow gone, people are outside, walking around, coming out and enjoying the city. While I was walking up Cabot, a man saw my camera and struck a pose jokingly, when I advanced my camera forward to capture it, he again struck the pose. Stopping to talk with him, the people he was with, we engaged in a dialog about what I was doing. Excited he had just been photographed, he politely said have a great afternoon, to which I responded with the same and made my way about the city. I challenge most people when they say Holyoke is rough, Holyoke is tough, Holyoke is scary, Holyoke sucks. Well where is the stigama that most people associate with Holyoke? Not easily found, as I have never been held up for my car. Every city has its issues, sections that are tough, hard, low-economy, but when you know your subject matter, allow yourself to be non-threatening, and can connect with people, they will connect with you. It doesn't matter where in the world you live any more, violence occurs, seen or unseen, documented or undocumented, reported, or not reported, it happens in the public sphere as well as behind closed doors. It is only when people witness first hand do they pass judgement. Go to Holyoke, watch the people, they are not much similar than you or I, excpet their ethnicity, culture, etc.
A few weeks back I had an interaction with a woman who refused to go to Holyoke, causing me to lose a client. It is unfortunate for her, as the service I would have provided is nearly impossible to find else where. Her response to where we are located, "the people with the guns will steal my brand new car." A comment that will not be forgetten anytime soon. I gave a short response and allowed her to make her comments and bid her a good afternoon. Moving forward a few weeks, on Friday after returning from Vermont, I took a few hours to meander around the city, make some photographs, and enjoy one of the first nicestes days of the season. With most of the snow gone, people are outside, walking around, coming out and enjoying the city. While I was walking up Cabot, a man saw my camera and struck a pose jokingly, when I advanced my camera forward to capture it, he again struck the pose. Stopping to talk with him, the people he was with, we engaged in a dialog about what I was doing. Excited he had just been photographed, he politely said have a great afternoon, to which I responded with the same and made my way about the city.
I challenge most people when they say Holyoke is rough, Holyoke is tough, Holyoke is scary, Holyoke sucks. Well where is the stigama that most people associate with Holyoke? Not easily found, as I have never been held up for my car. Every city has its issues, sections that are tough, hard, low-economy, but when you know your subject matter, allow yourself to be non-threatening, and can connect with people, they will connect with you. It doesn't matter where in the world you live any more, violence occurs, seen or unseen, documented or undocumented, reported, or not reported, it happens in the public sphere as well as behind closed doors. It is only when people witness first hand do they pass judgement. Go to Holyoke, watch the people, they are not much similar than you or I, excpet their ethnicity, culture, etc."
It was also said well by our intern the other day, "Holyoke is what you make it." Make it greater than you expected.
On Tuesday my cell phone chimed in with a new email alert interrupting whatever it was that I was doing at the time. Sliding my finger across the dandy opening screen, I was greeted with a new email to our business account. Nothing new, no big surprise, I get a dozen emails to that account on the daily. What was new, was the depth of the emotional response that was very heartfelt, touching, and personal. I am going to share a part of that email, as the photographs I made of Ye Old Bud back in January manifested an emotional response which warranted the email. I am very thankful for receiving the feed back, as it really resonates with me, that what I photograph is not just connected to me through my lens, but to the viewers who read my photographs. A large focus in my imagery is to provide a sense of communication, the literal message is always prevalent, as I strive to leave out the ambiguity that some photographers unknowingly place in their photographs.
"Jeffrey,
I am sitting at my desk at work and trying to fight back the tears. I justdid a google search on The Bud and came across your pictures along with someexterior pictures at another web site. I could not believe what hashappened to this beautiful old building. Your pictures brought back somewonderful memories from long ago. I left Mass in 1969 and have only beenback a few times since. The last time was about 18 years ago. At thattime, I went to The Bud since it had opened up again as a restaurant and itseemed in good shape at that time.
My father, leased the building back in the early to mid 60's. I spent a lot of time helping to get the place cleaned up and ready to open again as a night club. It became a very popular and successful nightclub back then..especially with the collegecrowd. I was always impressed by the beauty and craftsmanship of the building, also the quirkyness! I think of the place often.
Thank you for posting the pictures. They are beautiful but sad. I'm afraid that the building is probably a loss. I don't see how anyone would ever have enough money to restore it."
I found The Bud wide open in January when one my photographers called me saying he was standing outside the door, lock tossed to the side, chain gone, and the door left ajar. I put down the work I was doing and rushed right over, meeting my photographer at the front door. The door had not been opened a mere two weeks earlier when we had passed by looking at the area and scouting some locations. Parting ways, my photographer had to get on with his day while I stayed and photographed the space. It was the first time I had been inside the building. A short time later, my intern showed up and we proceeded to tour the building floor by floor. Stepping carefully, we walked back in time, quietly observing the history of the building, making photographs, documenting its current state of condition.
Moving forward a few weeks, I had met with Olivia from the Historic Commission. After seeing my photographs, she was moved even more than she had been, to save the building. The building, left with back taxes, is awaiting its fate...
Here is a video I cut this past evening to show the exterior of the building. If you have a story about The Ye Old Bud, I sincerely hope you will share it. You can email me directly any story, feeling, or emotional connection you have to the building. Who knows, maybe your stories will be a motivating factor, along with the photographs to persuade a change, spark an interest, and save the building and all the memories the walls share. After all, the shell of the building is a time capsule, a sort of liminal space, suffocating and awaiting new vitality to give it a breath again.
As the door creaks open, the aurora of old building greets us. Pungent at first, but as a few moments pass, the stench is replaced by the amazement of the conditions of the building. Left to sit for some 20-30 odd years, the building is a shell of memories, a time capsule to a dated past that no longer exists. The decor resembles a renovation that predates some of the industrial decline that can be seen throughout the city. Standing sad, lonesome, this building commands the attention of a developer that can provide more than just loving care. As we walked through the building, it was clear why it has sat for so long, effort of a collective set of helping hands is needed to make this building live again. With out the presence of human life, the building no longer lives, left to sit, soul-less, lifeless, suffocating. It would be a sincere shame to have this beautiful building become another vacant parcel, though, it would become a distilled space, a moment in time, a period of transition in which it would become another portrait in my series Vacancy. Below are photographs I have made from yesterdays tour. I hope, quite possibly, these photographs spark an interest in saving this building. A quick video will show some of the interior, beneath the photographs.
Video of 158 Maple St
When I am not walking around the inside of a building, documenting the conditions, I am running the day to day operations of our studio. Commonly people forget or are unaware that I run and own a studio with a business partner. It gets a little confusing when people only see one side of the work I do. The day before I went into 158 Maple St, I was working on a practice shoot, testing a space out for a much larger shoot to come. Here are a few photos from that shoot.
FIN
All photographs are copyright Jeffrey Byrnes and Lenshare Right click is not permissible.
