Blog Archives
Grotto
On my only other visit to Shafter, the church door was unlocked and I was able to get some photos inside. I didn’t realize how much I was looking forward to shooting inside there again, in muted light this time, until I discovered the door I’d gone in before was locked. And so were all the others. It was a disappointment.
But at least I got to see this, on the back of the church.
Shafter, Texas
photographed 12.22.2018
Unmarked
It’s mostly a ghost town now, but at one point the place had six silver mines and a population of around 4,000. (The 2000 census listed the population at 11; I’d guess that by now the population is in single digits.)
But the cemetery is sizable. It’s also rugged, with cactus and mesquite trees alongside rocked-topped graves. Most of the graves are marked with simple wooden crosses, none of which have any identifying information on them. And, oddly, in a town with almost no inhabitants, the paint on most of the crosses appears to be fairly new. But someone paints them…
Shafter, Texas
photographed 12.22.2018
L. P. Sloan: born, died
This tell us all we need to know. Or, at least, all we will ever know.
Shafter, Texas
photographed 11.4.2017
The valiant effort, doomed
They tried, the builder of that adobe wall between two abandoned buildings. But it looks like the new wall will soon meet the predicable fate of the other buildings. In fact, the adobes are already starting to erode, returning to the dirt they’re made from.
Shafter, Texas
photographed 11.4.2017
Church Reflections
The town’s hermit monk walked down the hill from the highway and waited patiently (which I guess is something hermit monks are good at) while I got this shot. Then we had a chat. As you do with hermit monks, I guess.
Shafter, Texas
photographed 11.4.2017
One Day | One Image 