Twin City Photos

Abandoned train station at the Olympic Stadium in Munich.

I often feel ambivalent about graffiti, as in some cases I think it contaminates, while in other cases it seems to add life to something dull and dreary. Case and point just recently the area around Minnehaha Falls was spray painted by vandals. Actually it was more like tagging, which are basically gang markings. Being this is a park and tourist area frequented by families, this clearly is an act of vandalism. It can be quite difficult to remove spray paint, especially in hard to reach areas. On the other hand take this abandoned train stop in the photo. The graffiti does seem to add a bit of life to the scene. Judging by the amount of it, the city appears to tolerate it. Or maybe they’ve just given up.

Just got back from Munich again, after spending two weeks there, one of them courtesy of the Iceland volcano. This train stop is across from the Olympic stadium. No doubt once a very busy place, it is now abandoned. I had driven past this point many times on the adjacent freeway on previous trips to Munich, and had been wanting to get some shots, but couldn’t find a way to easily get there. This time I was determined to get some photos. Not easy. I spent several hours on different occasions driving around the area, getting no where near it. This time despite a major tangle of freeway ramps behind the shot, and businesses, a school, and construction sites in front, I finally found my way there.

Well seems everyone’s had a go at this, so here’s my version. I went there with Vlad, we were scouting the building for a potential model shoot. Unlike previous visits to the place, it is now posted with many No Trespassing signs. Also some of the previously locked doors had been broken into. We went in anyway. Didn’t take long and we heard someone holler inside the building. Ever seen the Blair Witch Project? The disappeared guy calling from somewhere in the woods? Creepy. We were out of there in a hurry. Conclusion not suited for model shoot. If we’re not comfortable you can’t possible expect a model to be. To bad, it could have made for some interesting shots.

I haven’t been posting for while. Just very busy right now primarily work, with frequent trips, in fact heading back to Munich today for another week. At least we’ll catch the tail end of October Fest. After this things should quiet down for a while, and I hope to get back to posting a little more regularly, and maybe go out for a photo shoot with the gang (not the graffiti one).