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Sep122008

Photographing old barns

Filed under General, Photojournalism by bob hammerstrom at 2:23 pm

Do you know the old saying, “born in a barn?” You may have said it to your kids when they left the front door open. And then there’s “Cow-Hampshire.” Journalists from “down south” sometimes say the term up here when covering the presidential primary election. Well, there’s one less barn in the state now to photograph, or be ridiculed about.

There is something special about photographing an old barn. The light beaming through the holes in the roof, colors of the silvered wood, smell of hay, and mysteriousness of the building’s history make the outing much more than just a photography shoot.

The old barn along Lowell Road in Hudson is gone. It's days of providing shelter for the farm animals and vegetable business are over.

The old barn along Lowell Road in Hudson is gone. It's days of providing shelter for the farm animals and vegetable business are over.

 Photo editor, Don Himsel and I ventured down the block from The Telegraph building in Hudson, recently to record the demolition of a former vegetable farm along Lowell Road, one of very few farms left in southern New Hampshire.

What you don’t see and appreciate, while passing by quickly in your cars, is the history and design of the barn, which is evident when you slide the big doors open.

 

Photo editor Don Himsel videotapes names carved into the interior walls of the barn.

Using a tomato crate to stabilize the tripod, photo editor Don Himsel videotapes names carved into the interior walls of the barn.

 I’m a big fan of post and beam construction. I can’t help but wonder how long it took the builders to hand-carve the beams, and assemble the barn one peg at a time.  It looked like the Hardy family used chisels to stencil their names into the old boards.

The Hardy family names were carefully carved into the barn boards between horse stalls.

The Hardy family names were carefully carved into the barn boards between horse stalls.

As the giant excavator tore apart the farm house like a dinosaur eating lunch, Don and I watched and filmed from inside a small outbuilding, that may have housed farm help long ago. The diamand-shaped windows in the doors stood out, and made for a nice frame.
Don Himsel records the demolition for a video on www.nashuatelegraph.com

Don Himsel records the demolition for a video on www.nashuatelegraph.com

I used a 16mm zoom lens to shoot all of the photos you see here. It’s obviously my favorite. I like the up-close feeling and occasional distortion that gives a 3-D look to the images.
 The names may be nothing but splinters of wood in the field now, but the history of the farm carries on with a video on nashuatelegraph.com, and a story with photos, in the paper and on the web. At least the southern journalists won’t start singing “Who let the cows out” when they come to Hudson!
-Bob Hammerstrom, staff photographer

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