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by
John Troesser
Photos courtesy of Jason Grant and The Nostalgic Glass
Visiting
Mineral Wells? Book Your Hotel Here & Save
Mineral
Wells Hotels |
| | The
bridge from the hotel to the pool |
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| It
has never been adequately explained how buildings - especially vacant or abandoned
buildings - affect us. But they do. The word nostalgia comes from two Greek words:
nostos - meaning to return home - and algos - denoting pain. But even foreign
buildings or buildings we've never seen can cast a spell on us - sometimes from
just seeing a photo or examining an engraving. While it cannot technically be
"homesickness" - for those of us who experience it - it's the next closest thing.
|
| | Close
up of bridge and entrance |
| | The
Baker Hotel distant view |
| Jason
Grant is a Dallas based photographer
who captures images of historic ruins. These include some of the more inaccessible
buildings and structures in Texas - and many more
in the former Soviet Union. |
| | Hallway
accessing spiral staircase leading to bell tower |
| Grant
is a realist and doesn't entertain false hope or dreams that these structures
will all be restored. He sees their decay as a natural, inevitable process and
feels that "these palaces give a much more tangible sense of history in their
vacant, neglected state than if they were meticulously restored museums."
A visit to Jason Grant's site: www.nostalgicglass.org
will bring you to these places seldom seen. You can take a tour of fortresses,
castles and estates in Russia - or visit the interiors of the Nueces County Courthouse
or the Baker Hotel as well as a WWII
airfield and the Matagorda lighthouse.
The rich photography is accompanied
by brief but explanatory captions. The section marked History will say a few words
on the photographer's philosophy toward these buildings and structures.
In Mr. Grant's own words: "I hope that my project will give some of these estates
a chance to say a few last words about themselves before they slip away, to be
remembered as the grand structures they’ve always seen themselves as."
Haunting Photos of the Baker
Hotel - Page 2 >
Baker Hotel Interior |
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