From Excelsior Needle Co. to Timken: The Rise and Fall of Torrington's Standard Plant

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The Standard Plant and a Century of Making Things It was a hot May week in 2023, and J and I were already sweating through our shirts before we even made it to the entrance. We turned into the driveway off North Elm Street and passed a large Caterpillar backhoe holding up the red, white, and blue at the top of the arm. Patriotic machinery. Only in Connecticut. We moved toward the back of the complex with our eyes open, scanning for any sign of people or activity. We found cameras instead. A few of them, well-positioned across one of the buildings and up on an electrical pole, covering angles that made our original entry plan useless. We backed off, found a Plan B, and stepped into a dark room washed in tinted green light, then took the stairs down to ground level. The former Standard Plant sits along North Elm Street at a sunken grade, one story, with another building rising over the roadway to the far right when you're standing in front of it from North Street. It's the kind o...
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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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