Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Since 2007

Recommended reading

Jim Grey
4 comments on Recommended reading
1 minute

intro

I’ve been doing a series of posts on my favorite subjects lately. Colton Allen did one too — except that where he lives, there’s quite a stunning subject in Mount Shasta. Read Mt. Shasta – White Mountain

It’s true that Nikon’s FM10, until recently the last manual 35mm SLR still in production, wasn’t made by Nikon. It’s also true that photo snobs wrinkled their noses at this camera as a result. Johnny Martyr takes them all to task. Read Defending the Nikon FM10

I just sold my brick ranch house, built in 1969, and hope the next owner keeps it up well. It’s well built and, with care, should last another 48 years. But Aaron Renn asks a very interesting question: is the durability of our housing a liability to the cities in which those houses stand? Read Is Building to Last One of the Problems with Housing?

Do you have a good system for cataloging your photographs? I sure don’t. I tried Lightroom but didn’t like it. I’m back to folders sorted by year and roll of film. Not efficient. Gordon Lewis struggles with this too. Read I Know It’s Here Somewhere…

This week I found these film-camera reviews and experience reports:

So I forgot to update the placeholder “intro” above with an actual intro. But I’m leaving it, because it’s meta.

Comments

4 responses to “Recommended reading”

  1. Johnny Martyr Avatar
    Johnny Martyr

    Thanks so much Jim! Glad you liked my thoughts on the FM10!

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      My pleasure! It’s a good post.

      Reply
  2. George Denzinger Avatar
    George Denzinger

    Regarding the entry about housing: I just did the same thing as you, I sold my 1962 split level and moved to a totally refurbished 1935 Bungalow last week. I loved my “atomic” house, while it wasn’t Googie, it had been rather well preserved and only minimally updated; the previous six(!) owners took good care of it, I like to think I did the same in my 18+ years of ownership.
    I guess we’re so used to the idea of “building things to last” that we really have no concept of end of life for housing and neighborhoods. I live in a neighborhood of folks from all backgrounds, some elderly, young couples, more established families. It’s a nice mix and I hope to add to the culture here.
    I ‘d like to think that our way of dealing with upheaval in society and changing neighborhoods would be more like the one I’m in now, sensibly sized houses with small lots. I think there are bigger wastelands in the suburbs that have McMansions and minimum one-acre lot restrictions. If you can afford it, great. But, I think that housing and land use policies need to evolve, not just find a way to make more things disposable.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      My 1969 brick ranch is typical of the genre. I’ll bet there are thousands similar to it in Indianapolis.

      If some developer bought every house in this neighborhood, razed them all, and built something else here, I would lament the loss of this great little house because I am so attached to it. But when I look at it in a more calculating manner, I realize it would not be a loss, really. If a better use for this land can be found, especially one that helps return this part of town to being more sought after as a place to live, it would be a win.

      But let’s say that starts happening citywide. At some point you have to save some of these neighborhoods so we know what sprawling 1950s-60s suburban life was like.

      Reply

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