Repurposed

It's not unusual to find old manufacturing spaces recycled into new uses... for retail, or offices, or even lofts for artists. What is unusual is that often these ventures start out with a bang and then slowly loose their appeal and degenerate into vacant and run-down tax evaders.

This space, Village Gate in Rochester, has not taken that path but instead continually reinvented and evolved, and doing OK even after thirty years of use.

When a bad picture is a good picture

This picture has been a fixture on my various work desks over the last twelve years. What is curious, however, is that no one has ever asked my why I have a photo of a water tower on display.

It was shot on September 25, 2002, with my first digital camera, a Canon Powershot S100 (the first one made back in 2001... there is another camera of the same name and model made in 2011!). The little camera was capable of two-megabytes of jpeg quality, and to make matters even more challenging, this is a small crop of the original exposure. The photo was ratty enough that I have now run it though a Topaz plug-in to mask the limitations of the low quality image. The resulting photo has a retro, almost postcard quality that I enjoy... but I don't think anyone would ever claim it is a technically good picture (click the picture to see it bigger and badder).

So why do I keep this picture on my desk?

It is to me a reminder that good things can happen even when you become convinced that they will not.

I had lost my job of almost 30 years due to a company reduction-in-force... a layoff. Being fifty years old and having only worked for one company for almost all of my career, I did not have much luck finding new employment. In fact after searching for almost seven months I became convinced that no respectable employment would ever be offered to me.

But in time a good opportunity did materialize. This photo was shot across the parking lot of the new office during my first week on the job. I was really lucky.

My new job lasted for ten years, and then though another twist of fate, I was again out of work before I was ready to retire. Once again luck smiled on me and I found another great job which I have been at for almost two years now.

So this little picture has been a totem for me, reminding me that good opportunities are always possible, with a bit of luck, and sufficient persistence.

The lobby

I recently traveled to the Washington DC area for work. Some of our company offices are located in the Gannett/USA Today building in McLean, Virginia. The building can only be described as spectacular, built about ten years ago when the publishing business was booming. The lobby is large enough to be an airline hanger, and the use of glass and marble is everywhere. For some reason this young girl was skipping though the lobby which kind of makes the picture I think.

The news business today is not so rosy. With several rounds of layoffs, many employees have skipped out the door, leaving excess office available for sublet.

No entry

The three bushkateers

Water spots

A fairly common site. Nearly perfect round spots, assuming the ceiling was installed correctly. A small leak above, a round lacy pattern below (well above but below).

Most facilities are quick to have the tiles replaced, but I think in many cases it can add a bit of character and interest to a bland office.

Back hall

Back at the office

Daylight seems even bluer in the winter months. And so am I.

Snake plant

Maybe this is a new direction for me... office landscapes.

Or maybe I am too big a wimp to go out in the cold weather.

Down the hall

Tree and color

Trees... the ever popular subject of photos. Even when bare of their leaves, they are interesting subjects.

Color is another point of interest. I see red-green-blue, so I guess I have the bases covered. A bit of sunlight brings out the primaries. Reminds me of Kodachrome.

Let the sun shine in

So I complain of the drabness, and today the sun was bright, at least for a few hours.

The life of a cube worker. At least the layout of the building puts the offices in the middle so all can get a bit of sun. This time around, however, I am in a windowless office.

Not sure that I would have preferred a cube by the windows.

Drab exit

I have trouble motivating myself during the short drab days that are now, more or less, the norm. Not sure what the Exit sign has to do with it, but it does seem to add to the gloom of the season.

On a more positive note, I notice that this is my 400th posting in this blog. I never thought it would last this long.

America's greatest camera company

This is the building where I work, but it now has nothing to do with cameras or photography. In fact I have not found one person who works here that is aware of the buildings history. It was constructed in 1957 for what has been said was the only great United States camera company.

Sure there were a lot of cameras built in the US of A, and some were pretty good, but most were simple snap-shot devices. The cameras built here were iconic and nearly universally used by the press and comercial photographers around the world. From the early 1900's to the mid 1970's they were the cameras that said "I am a serious photographer".

Of course by the time most of us were getting into photography (even us old timers) this brand was on the downward slope and, although effort was made, they were not successful in advancing the technology in a way that retained the market. New offerings from Germany and later Japan left them in the dust.

If you have not guessed by now the company name was Graflex. The Speed Graphic, and its progeny, were THE cameras of their era.

Most people think of Eastman Kodak when they think about photography and Rochester NY, but there were over a dozen camera, film, and optical companies in the city during the early part of the century. Kodak did own Graflex for a few years, but for the most part they were separate entities.

When Graflex moved into this building 50 years ago they surely did not know that their name would be nearly forgotten, yet their building would live on.

Have a seat

I am sure there is a story behind this, and I think I can figure out what it is.

But this does strike me as pretty funny.

Work space

The life of a cubicle worker means a certain imposed conformity.  People personalize their space with photos of loved ones, or cute but crude drawings by their children, but sometimes you come across the bizarre.

Not sure what this creature is supposed to be... a teletubby?  And why it is here?  The dominant occupant (a human) is a young (no, not that young) technical guy who makes our telephones or computers or some other technical thing work.

But I am not here to judge.  After all I have a ukulele in my work space!