When allowed to wander in these homes you can find an opportunity around every corner.
An image with a heavier contrast. A more European style.
In A Grand Old House, B&W
Category Archives: Shooting A Grand Old House
So Many Different Ways…
I have been in this old house a number of times, and never miss shooting in this room.
The light always changes, and so do the ways to photograph it.
Next time I would like a ghost please.
Plantation Ruins, Bonneau Ferry
A dirt road, to another dirt road, past the Alligator Pond, another dirt road, a cabin, to another dirt…
This area, off the Cooper River, contained a long line of several of the oldest plantations in the south. They’re gone now except for several ruins and various headstones, if you can find them.
Roads didn’t exist, the river was the highway.
I didn’t have that luxury.
St. Philips Church, 1680, 1723, 1835, 1838
Each of the dates in the title represents a St. Philips church building. They have been moved, burned, blown up, and finally this church in 1838.
The spire is one the tallest buildings and they are used to determine the maximum height of any other structures in Charleston. The town skyline has always been old churches and the city is struggling to maintain the historical look.
While there are hundreds of very old churches here St. Philips has become the icon of Charleston.
Could They Really Look Like That ?
I love old portraits, I have no drawing skills at all and appreciate the the artisits.
However…
Great work, but strange family.
The Blake Tenements
In a square near the judicial center of Charleston sits the ‘Tenements’. One is left anyway.
The Blake Tenements were built between 1760 and 1772 by Daniel Blake, a planter from Newington Plantation on the Ashley River. This building was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Seems housing was always an issue around here.
A ‘tenement’ is a universal style and if you cut off the double Charleston stairs this could be in NYC, Baltimore, or many other older US cities.
Actually I grew up in one of the same style. Apartments on each side of the doors, multiple apartments, minimal space. In fairness my building was newer. Mine was an early 1800’s NYC tenement, not as clean or fancy either.
Back Buildings, A Grand House
All the grandeur and wealth were on display in the main house. The buildings behind, in the courtyard, was where all the work was done, and enslaved people lived.
Some of this was built before the US Civil War, some after.
These images were taken in the upper level living quarters.
Most likely these rooms have not had anything or anyone doing more than walking through and looking for a very long time.
Like many of the old homes in Charleston during the Civil War the owners lost their wealth. This land remained in the family for many years after the war though. What saved the house was the location in town. This building was just far enough inland to miss most of the bombardment on the Charleston peninsula.
Gibbes Rotunda, Charleston, South Carolina
Difficult to photograph, but so worth it.
The rotunda on this building is often seen in skyline photographs, yet I have never shot the inside. Gibbes Art Museum, Charleston.