Having a guide when out taking photos can be a duel edged sword. Especially for someone like myself who likes to shoot in a particular way, discovering things on more of a karmic pace as opposed to the “You gotta see this place…” type of discovery. I once lugged a studio 4×5 up a mountain on the assurances of one such guide that the photography would be stunning. I didn’t shoot one sheet of film, not even a polaroid.

When I visited North Adams on a picture taking trip, and my host and his partner volunteered to take me around based on descriptions of what I was looking for, I was at first very hesitant, but I accepted the kind offer. I told Joe the things I was hoping to photograph and off we went in search of them.

My fears were quickly put to rest within the first minutes even though our initial destination was the town dump. And then every stop thereafter Joe delivered a great location for taking snaps.

It was our last stop however, that yielded this image. Joe had suggested an old factory and drove us across town so I could see it. I’m sure it would have been great had it not been for the fence and razor wire. But across the street from the factory was this scene. The arch over the river (for lack of a better term) was what caught my eye, and everything else just kind of fell in place.

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Last Light Trickling Through, North Adams, Ma. 2007