Virjune Manufacturing Co: Inside Waterbury's Vacant Factory

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J and I were already having a rough day. We'd just driven across town to check out an old industrial site he hadn't visited in a while, only to find it erased. Nothing left but a slab of concrete and chain-link fence. So we took a detour. Sometimes you salvage a disappointing afternoon with a backup plan, even if you're just ticking a box. The former Virjune plant hides in plain sight off Thomaston Avenue. If you drive past in summer, you'll miss it completely. Trees and shrubs swallow the building whole, nature reclaiming what industry left behind. Come winter, though, when the branches go bare and the world turns gray, the red brick skeleton reveals itself. Even then, you have to know where to look. I pulled up old Sanborn maps to trace the building's history. The earliest tenant was an auto body shop in 1922. By February 1950, something bigger had moved in. The map labels it simply "Stamping Wks." No company name. No flourish. Just function. That namele...
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Archives #3: Manhattan Nights

A nocturnal cityscape of Manhattan viewed from an elevated position, with the bright streaks of traffic lights painting ribbons of color along the streets. The dense array of buildings is punctuated by patches of greenery and illuminated by the soft glow of city lights, with skyscrapers rising majestically in the background, draped in a misty haze.


I normally don't post night pictures. I have always been a day person. I never liked the edited night pictures I've taken in the past nor felt the need to publish them in general. I am hoping that the growing Lightroom experience I have been gaining over these past three years will change that.

Here are to more nighttime pictures.  🙈 💀 👶

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