Abandoned shack along California Route 66

[KenElevenShadows]

Night photo of an abandoned shack along historic Route 66 in the Mojave Desert in California. The structure is on the property of a house that was destroyed in a fire a week earlier, the same day that the Goffs General Store was also burned, both under suspicious circumstances. I had special permission to photograph this property. Illuminated by a full moon and warm white and red light from a handheld ProtoMachines LED2. Thanks.

 

[Notes_Norton]

Nice shot.

 

Mrs. Notes is a fine-art painter, so we have visited some of the most famous art museums in the world. One thing I've noticed is that artists are attracted to junk. Beat up things are much more interesting to look at.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[KenElevenShadows]

That's interesting.

 

I suppose part of it is for me that, as someone who is illuminating these structures, I love the texture. I also love the sense of the forbidden and the lost, and as well, the sense of history that is slowly eroding.

[Notes_Norton]

That's a lot more eloquent than "Artists are attracted to junk."

 

But a weathered old door (or most anything else) is a lot more interested to look at than a shiny new one without a blemish.

 

Notes

[KuruPrionz]

Lovely, makes me wonder who lived there and for how long. And even more important, why?

 

Grandpa and Grandma lived in Yucca Valley, I've spent some time in the Mojave Desert. It's a strange beautiful place...

[KenElevenShadows]

It is a strange and beautiful place.

 

This property that the shack is on belonged to a family that lived in the tiny Route 66 town until eventually abandoning the house in the mid-1990s. The property remained abandoned. There was a fire there in June 2021 that decimated the place. This fire occurred at the same time as two other fires, so obviously, authorities suspect foul play.

 

WHY they lived there, well, I'm not sure. There's so many reasons. People who live in the desert are often strong, independent people who want to be left alone, but I'm sure there's more to it than that.