Lessons Learned: Beauty or beast?

Although many of the pictures I take are appropriate for greeting cards or post cards - traditional "beauty" shots - one of my shameless desires is to photograph urban grunge, industrial impact and civilization's less-lovely creations as art.

You were spared one such image when my wife Amy informed me that it was just too upsetting. I found what I felt was a pretty amazing composition based on a combination weather/time/barnacle attack on the bottom of a rowboat. I framed it closely in an abstract design and was very happy with the colors, composition and "hidden beauty" I often find in such refuse. I confess, even I was borderline about whether it was cool or slightly sickening, and she had no difficulty in pinning down the right answer for me.

This image of aging wood, peeling paint and - perhaps worst of all - gasoline pricing we'll never see again, seems intriguing to me. I love the colors, textures and overall feeling. This is one of about a dozen different compositions I found on this building, all "distressed" but attractive in my mind's eye...

By the way, if you're interested in this type of picture, you might also enjoy my "Urban Angles 1", "Urban Angles 2" and "idealab alley" galleries at CYBERpress Galleries.