Eleanor Fitzgerald

This is a photo of the channel and bolts for the lock gates at Empire Lock 20 on the Old Erie Canal, about a mile outside of Amsterdam, New York.
I love the physical immediacy of the history. This is one of the only parts of the abandoned enlarged canal left that is right next to the original 1828 Clintons Ditch.
It's very quiet and hidden there and you can almost hear the voices of the immigrants and the canal men and the mules snorting and braying in protest, echoing faintly in the breeze.
I also like the near to far perspective and the arc of the composition. I'm interested in decay and the history of objects, and I love the textures of the granite and rusted bolts with the grass and weeds.