Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Since 2007

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single frame: Thorntown Library

Jim Grey
15 comments on single frame: Thorntown Library
1 minute
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Thorntown Library

Thorntown Library
Nikon N90s, 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor
GAF 125 Versapan x/7-72 @ EI 80
2021

I made a few photos on the expired GAF 125 film in Thorntown, a small town here in Boone County, Indiana. This is Thorntown’s library. This is the original building, one of the hundreds of libraries industrialist Andrew Carnegie build around the country. I documented several other Indiana Carnegie libraries here.

I’ve now shared the best of my photos on this roll of very expired film.

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Comments

15 responses to “single frame: Thorntown Library”

  1. brandib1977 Avatar
    brandib1977

    I am grateful for the Carnegie libraries and sometimes amazed at how many there are. Thanks for sharing this one!

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I oughta do another summary post of the Carnegie libraries I’ve seen. I did one years ago but have seen so many more since.

      Reply
      1. brandib1977 Avatar
        brandib1977

        Good idea! Once you notice one you start to see them everywhere.

        Reply
  2. DougD Avatar
    DougD

    Our town in Canada has one, it’s an art gallery now.
    A library is more helpful than shooting your self into space.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      True dat.

      Reply
  3. Andy Umbo Avatar
    Andy Umbo

    When I’m driving around, I always see those well built, small town Carnegie libraries almost in every substantial city. Even if they’re not still libraries, they are art galleries or cultural destinations, rarely have they been pulled down. Pays to build well.

    Always love this about what Andrew Carnegie said about wealth:

    “Carnegie believed in giving wealth away during one’s lifetime, and this essay includes one of his most famous quotes, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” from the Gospel of Wealth.

    Doug D’s got it right. There are people so wealthy now that they can finance trips to space, but even the retired middle class can’t find affordable housing. Where I live, all the new apartments built last year would need an income almost twice the reported average household income in my area to actually rent. There are a handful of the super wealthy that could change this nation wide literally tomorrow. Where’s our Andrew Carnegie?

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I like the cut of Carnegie’s jib.

      Reply
    2. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      So many of them have been repurposed. I know of one that’s a community center, and another that’s a county extension office. I love it when they are still libraries.

      Reply
  4. bodegabayf2 Avatar
    bodegabayf2

    I am not sure how much post processing you did on this image, but the tonal range you coaxed out of this old film is pretty impressive.

    Reply
    1. tbm3fan Avatar
      tbm3fan

      I agree. In fact it is hard to believe that this shot came from the same roll as the other days previous shots did even though we know it did.

      Reply
    2. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I did very little post-processing of these — they all looked pretty good straight off the scanner. This is probably technically the best image on the roll, but all of them had far better tonal range than you’d expect from film this old.

      Reply
  5. Nancy+Stewart Avatar
    Nancy+Stewart

    I spent a lot of hours after school at our little Carnegie library in Rochester, waiting for my mother to get off work at our doctor’s office. It was like a second home for me.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I just looked up Rochester’s Carnegie library and found it’s not far off the Michigan Road. I’ll look it up next time I’m in town!

      Reply
  6. Steve Mitchell Avatar
    Steve Mitchell

    Even here in New Zealand there are Carnegie libraries….amazing really!

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I didn’t know that! Terrific.

      Reply

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