Boiler Room
Ever since I started to do photography the old interested me more then the new. In life I am the opposite. I like new things; I like them to look like they were never used. A scratch on one of my cameras could have put my body in shock in the past. I am more relaxed about things like that today since I realized that the main reason for a camera to exist is to be used not to look good. Nowadays I like to see a little bit of wear on my equipment because that sows me that I am out there taking pictures.
As I said before in photography it is the opposite. The older the more rotten things are the more I am exited about shooting them. When I started my career years ago back in Germany shooting fashion pictures I found this old factory that was not used any more. It belonged to this guy who also owned this shipping company right next to it. I somehow got to know him and he would give me the keys to get into the factory and shoot whatever I want. That is something nobody in New York would do because people are to scared that somebody would get hurt and throw a lawsuit at them. I loved to shoot there. I would have a beautiful girl with beautiful cloth but mix that up with rough looking backgrounds. I used to call that my “Peter Lindbergh Approach.” (Peter Lindbergh is a famous fashion photographer).
When I walked out of my building today I ran into our super Paul. He was wheeling this beautiful couch along the sidewalk with stuffing hanging out of it. He said somebody in the basement was throwing it out. I saw couches in the same condition be rented out on shoots for $ 1,000.00 per day rental fee. The older and the more destroyed a couch was the better. It was perfect for a fashion shoot but also 9 feet long. Where the hell would I put it?
After he left the couch on the sidewalk he looked at me and said,” You are a photographer aren’t you?” I nodded. “They are cutting the boiler apart in the old boiler room. It is a great place to take pictures. I already told another photographer in the building about it. It looks like you are inside the Titanic down there and they ripped already the roof off.” That sounded amazing. I wanted to know how to get there. “Well all you have to do is to make a left on this street and then use the second entrance, make a left and.. well you are a big guy you will find your way.” And he walked away.
Our building is over 120 years old and had steam heat until a few months ago when it was switched over to gas. That kind of heat is very affective and was included in the rent. Unfortunately the boiler got too old, would break down sometimes until gas heaters were installed and that was it’s end. Since it was not needed any more a scrap metal company was hired to take it apart.
After I finished running some errands I was determined to find my way down to that room. I entered the building as Paul told me got down into the basement but all the doors were locked. There was one doorbell though. An older man probably in his 60’s opened the door. I explained him that I ran into Paul and that I was trying to get into the boiler room. He told me to follow him. The basement was amazing. He has a wood shop down there with many more of the couches like the one that ended up on the street today. We ended up at this big metal door and he said I could stay as long as I wanted and then find my way out. I thanked him opened the door and was in the Titanic.
It was such a great place to shoot. The boiler was already opened up and a big part was already gutted. I started to shoot immediately not knowing how long I could stay. There was the boiler but the roof was also ripped off that part of the building. Then I met Jonathan. Jonathan has a scrap metal company and is the man for a job like this one. This is his third day cutting the boiler apart and even though to me it sounds almost like an impossible task he told me that every piece of metal would go.
Jonathan went back to work and I kept on shooting. I got some really cool shots of him gutting the boiler by cutting these long pipes out of it. This is really hard work. Some of the pieces Jonathan and the other guys drag out of there are 750 pounds heavy. When I asked them how they would be able to do that one of his co-workers said with a smile, ”this is when the magic comes in.” I still have to find out what the magic is.
Today I decided to work on a series of portraits like this. To me it is so interesting what people do, whatever that might be. To be able to take a boiler apart that had been sitting in this building for 120 years is amazing to me. When I talk about a portrait I talk about a series of images. I started to do that on my website but it is time to have a couple of portraits like that. I think that is a great way to tell a story about a person.
Unfortunately my new friends suddenly had to leave. I assume the truck was full and they had to bring the scrap metal to wherever you bring scrap metal to. I will go back tomorrow and hope they will allow me to shoot some portraits. For now here is an image of Jonathan cutting apart the boiler.
"Boiler Room" Williamsburg/Brooklyn 03-25-08 at 04:36 PM
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