The Monroe Abby. A Saturday Walkabout

Downtown Phoenix, AZ. 2/10/2018

This walkabout was very similar to my first ones I did. I had a place in mind I wanted to visit, so it wasn't like others I've done recently where I just drive around waiting for something to catch my eye.

I also when I first started going out on Saturdays before sunrise, I used to stop and take pictures of the sunrise from wherever I happened to be when it happened. It could've been en route, or already in my destination. I think at first I did this because I was still exploring different types of photography to see which type I felt more at home with, or more interested in, and I eventually started to realize that landscape photography wasn't as interesting to me as walking the streets of the city and capturing all the random things that happened to be around me...and without really realizing it, I stopped doing sunrises.

The sunrise this time around was very colorful, I kept glancing sideways at it that I decided to stop on the shoulder of the freeway and make a picture out of it.

This also was reminiscent of my first Saturday walkabouts.

I continued on my way, to my predetermined destination, which a recent acquaintance I made, a fellow photographer Joanna Proffitt, had recommended I visit because the building was scheduled for a remodel or restoration.

As I shy away from using GPS to get around, I ended up parking in East Monroe instead of West Monroe and before I realized I had made a mistake I was able to make another picture, religiously themed as well but obviously not from an abandoned Abby.

After making it back to my car, and driving a few blocks more to the actual address of this abandoned Abby, I quickly realized that it wasn't really abandoned. It was empty yes, but it was clearly kept and protected, the doors were closed and locked, so I ended up only being able to walk around the building, making pictures as I went whenever I found something interesting.

After I walked around a bit, I figured I would also walk around the surrounding areas to see if anything else caught my eye, and making a few additional pictures.

All in all it was a familiar walkabout, similar to the first ones I did, which naturally instigated introspection..How much had changed since? How much more would it change? trying to keep these musings from dipping into doubts of whether the change has been for the better or not...I'm trying to train myself not to qualify my experiences that way and try to trust that it will all lead somewhere good. For now I'm content in seeing changes in the way I take pictures.

Andres Gonzalez