At first I explored the town

“At first I explored the town” – Haven by Alice Munro

6 thoughts on “At first I explored the town

  1. Those little window reflections are great, but what in the world is going on with that door, or window, or whatever, in the center? I wonder how it evolved to its present form.

    1. This is one of the things you, unfortunately, might see often in Germany. And especially this example is an even worse one.
      Very often people that live in very old buildings didn’t have the means and/or the taste to renovate them properly. So this happens. The building (it is quite huge) seems to be divided in some appartments and someone needed a bathroom. With a window instead of the door obviously.
      Another part of the building is uninhabitated, windows broken. The whole building is very unkempt.
      I am not sure how old this building is, but it seems to have been part of the Jewish community in this small village, the synagogue and the shul had been just around the corner. I found another photo on panoramio that was tagged “House of a Jewish merchant”. The synagogue had been built in 1843 so I assume this building is at least that old or even older.

  2. OK, in the Naugatuck River Valley where I do a lot of work, there are many similar instances. It was a prosperous area in a former industrial age, but now the large houses that line the valley walls are mainly divided into many apartments, easily spotted by the gang of sometimes a dozen electric meters on the wall. But your shot really hints at a hidden narrative. Good work.

    1. I think I will post some more photos of this one … like right now. Stupid as I am I did not take a decent photo of the whole building, :-( – like so often I was intrigued with the details. It’s not that I am using film and have to count … duh.
      With this one, I guess it really would cost a fortune to modernize it and since the location is not that good (in the middle of a small village, at the main road) … so no chance to be “gentrified” … . Thank you!

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