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New Perspectives on Beauty from Eric Holubow

by Janine Boylan on October 15, 2012

Abandoned space at Washburne Trade School in Chicago, Illinois, showing new perspectives on beauty

Abandoned space at Washburne Trade School in Chicago, Illinois
© Eric Holubow

Can There Be Beauty in Decay?

Eric Holubow, urban exploration photographer, gave me new perspectives on beauty. He creates haunting views into life’s changes through snapshots of glorious buildings as they fall into disrepair.

Abandoned Church

Gary, Indiana’s City Methodist Church once held nearly 3,000 members. Now its rainbow-colored windows have made way for exploring vines. Its floors beckon weeds, and its roof welcomes trees. Yet Holubow shows that it is still a place for inspiration.

Ruins of Holy Trinity Church in Gary, Indiana, showing new perspectives on beauty

Ruins of the Holy Trinity Church in Gary, Indiana
© Eric Holubow

Auto Manufacturing Plant

Detroit’s Packard plant was a modern and innovative automobile facility when it opened in 1903. Now the dense concrete walls are crumbling. The air is heavy with musty, decades-old rot. Holubow depicts a space waiting for its next chapter. But he includes a carefully-placed automobile seat that offers a view of inspiration and discovery in the future.

Remains of the Packard Auto Plant in Detroit, Michigan, showing new perspectives on beauty

Remains of the Packard Auto Plant in Detroit, Michigan
© Eric Holubow

Candy Factory

These images of Brach’s candy factory reveal layers of change. The snow has provided a pristine new carpet for the hallway. The walls boast spray paint as colorful as the candy once made there.

Abandoned Brach's candy factory in Chicago, Illinois,  showing new perspectives on beauty

Hallway in Brach’s candy factory in Chicago, Illinois
© Eric Holubow

Like a resident ghost, paintings of the company’s signature candy refuse to be peeled away.

Wall in abandoned Brach's candy factory in Chicago, Illinois, showing new perspectives on beauty

Wall in Brach’s candy factory in Chicago, Illinois
© Eric Holubow

From Theater to Parking Lot

Some of Holubow’s images show buildings he caught just before they were leveled to make way for a new generation. Others, like this theater-turned-parking lot, show buildings that are already transformed with a new purpose and identity.

Michigan Theater in Detroit, Michigan, converted into parking lot and showing new perspectives on beauty

Parking lot on site of Michigan Theater in Detroit, Michigan
© Eric Holubow

Windows Into a Beautiful History

Holubow offers, “In these forgotten and overlooked places, I see not just loss, tragedy, or decay, but the chaos in which a new architect’s vision may be born.”

For me, each image is a window to the place’s beautiful history. I imagine the—

craftsmen who carefully laid each piece of stained glass

artists who spent hours carving and painting the intricate designs on the ceiling

worshippers who quietly shuffled through the aisles

workers who inspected thousands of sparkling wrapped candies

ushers who helped patrons to their velvety seats

person who slid the dirty bench to look out the gaping hole in the wall

teens who tagged the shiny white tile walls

Oh, I see such haunting beauty in this decay and gain new perspectives. What do you see? Leave a comment.

See more of Holubow’s images on Flickr and Facebook.

Inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

 
Comments:

One thought on “New Perspectives on Beauty from Eric Holubow

  1. Love this blog! There is absolutely beauty in decay! Enjoying photography myself, I choose to photograph mainly things that are decaying, old, or broken. I find them particularly beautiful as they show what use to be, as well as give you hope for what the items/item can become! In a world constantly becoming more and more modern finding these “decay” like elements out of place (ie) buying a new apartment that is very modern but it having a wall of original exposed brick that use to be an old factory) can make a place strangely beautiful. These elements of new and decay have a way of creating something that just can’t be recreated by machines or people!

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