The Snowplow

All Images © 2010 Declan J. Dillon.
Please do not use/reproduce without my explicit, written permission.

Nearly a year ago, I came across this snow thrower far on the outskirts of Bozeman, Montana. I was on a college visit and saw it while wandering around near the b&b I was staying at. I snapped a picture and went on with my day, not realizing that in the coming year, I would be visiting it again.

It's an old (obviously) Sicard Senior (not so obviously), manufactured in the 1950's by Sicard Industries. While not out of place in a state like Montana, its specific location seems odd. It seems to have just been parked there and left, but its location in relation to civilization says otherwise. It sits on a slight hill, facing a little-traveled two lane backroad, far away from any town or other place that would necessitate a machine of such caliber. My only conclusion is that someone desiring a large-scale yard ornament positioned it there, but that seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through for a simple decoration.

Virtually everything that is abandoned has a story behind it, from the child's toy left in the woods, to the vintage pickup truck resting under the collapsed roof of an old barn, to the homeless man sitting on the corner of the Walmart parking lot, attempting to coax a few dollars out of someone's cavernous pocket so that he may eat. These stories range widely in depth and color, but one thing remains true of all of them: they provide some, even the most minute, insights into past realities different to our own. The snowplow is yet another object with a story just waiting to be told, which is why I keep returning to it.

Cars, Cars, Cars

Side of a road, Saratoga, California.

Industrial park, Bozeman, Montana.

Abandoned junkyard, Santa Cruz Mountains, CA.

Unknown private property, Saratoga, CA.

Industrial park, Bozeman, MT.

Abandoned junkyard, Santa Cruz Mountains, CA.

All Images © 2010 Declan J. Dillon. All Rights Reserved.
Please do not use/reproduce without my explicit, written permission.

They're everywhere. They rest in fields, old buildings, people's yards, and on the sides of roads, silently melting into their surroundings, slowly becoming entombed by layers of mud and foliage. Some will be found, recovered, and restored. Others, however, will continue to sink into the land they reside upon, eventually becoming a part of it.

Much to the annoyance of my family and friends, I live and breathe "car." I have been known to go to absurd lengths to photograph abandoned cars, or just cars in general. I spend most of my spare time wandering around, hoping to encounter something interesting. The images above are the product of my ongoing search.

The Abandoned

All Images © 2010 Declan J. Dillon. All Rights Reserved.

Please do not use/reproduce without my explicit, written permission.

We exist to consume. We spend most of our lives eating, studying, and working, all so that we can continue to eat, study, and work, and eventually produce more who eat, study, and work. Our society is centered on consumption. What we do not realize, however, is how much we discard. We constantly cast away vast quantities of literature, playthings, technology, dwellings, transportation, and even people.

I am not here to critique society, but my opinions will, inevitably, affect what I express. However, I have little desire to comment on society, so I'll leave that to the philosophers. I am here because I take great interest in what society throws away. Trash provides phenomenal insights into the character of those who discarded it. It also makes for some rather interesting pictures.