This week I went on a day trip with my photography class to a ghost town in Bannack Montana. This is a, now empty, mining town full of rundown buildings that are full of dust and untold stories.
I am fascinated by the idea of walking through the skeleton of a building that used to be someones home. I see marks on the walls and wonder if they are from normal wear and tear or if they are from the last person to live there.
Theres years of stories in those building and most of them will go untold and unremembered, but as I can imagine and guess what it was like as I silently creep through the now empty and dust covered structures.
I chose the crystal as the focus of these photos because every angle you look at the crystal from has a different reflection similar to how every detail you notice in these buildings tells a different story.
Some of the houses like the two above where staged with furniture to show what it may have looked like back when the home was in use. A fire place has wood and kindling ready to burn to warm the home and prepare meals, lace curtains filter out some of the hot summer light.
I caught my reflection crouching to get another angle and to change the perspective of the shot, the crystal is barley visible and the red paint has peeled away significantly but still leaves it’s mark. An animal skull is forgotten among the among the weeds growing along the side of this building.
Inside the homes is an endless variety of torn wallpapers and broken glass. I peeled back layers of wallpaper going back in time through the changes color and pattern tastes of the previous occupants.
Ysabelle Kae Photography 