Ruins

All ruins are part of our landscape. Whether in cities or the remotest places, ruins share our respect for and desire to find present meaning in the past. Some are testimony as to how far we have come; others testify how far we have gone in the wrong direction. Many are ironic reminders of the way we asserted, with brash confidence, our mastery over earth, air, fire and water. We search for ruins, even excavate and study them once found.

Ruins constantly are created as our world moves on. We often hold onto the recent ones, rescue, even repurpose them to give them new life. They create a continuity of life, a way to see how our world has changed during our lifetime. They are part of how the canvas of the present contains elements of time past.

One way we preserve them is to record their presence in photographs taken before they have disappeared, or as they are preserved. It is an important branch of the way we now approach history. This is an ongoing project that will be of interest in many contexts.