Ocean Beach, Near Cliff House, San Francisco
August 14th, 2013,
Antique Filter
"A picture is a secret about a secret, the more it tells, the less you know."
~Diane Arbus
RRC: Gone
The Sutro Baths
I don't usually post photos that aren't mine for this challenge, in fact it is strongly frowned upon, but this time, just as a point of reference, the picture you see just above this paragraph are actually two photos I found on the Internet that demonstrate the amazing grace, architecture, beauty, and history of a bygone era in San Francisco. The time was the late 1800's, and the place was the Sutro Baths that were erected next to Cliff House, on the Great Highway. As you can see, it was a fantastic place, that featured state of the art innovation for the time. Today, all that remains of the once great public swimming pools, are the ruins, which I find really interesting as a historical point of interest!
Sutro Baths was built on the bluff, next door to Cliff House, had 7 pools, of fresh water and salt water, and it survived the 1906 earthquake, but eventually fell to the fluxing economy in the middle half of the 20th century. After it's closing, in 1966, the building was finally destroyed by fire. Which seems so sad to me. A building as impressive as it was, should still be there, reminding us of the wonderful time it was built in. I would give anything to have seen and photographed it, but the ruins are still very interesting to me! I find it to be an enchanting place, and I can almost hear the music that was playing during all those decades! Can you imagine how much the swim fashions alone changed over those 60 years?
"Photography is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality."
~Alfred Stieglitz
Sutro Baths History (National Park Service)
Sutro Baths (Wikipedia)
Okay, now that you have seen my post for the RRC, why not go and see what the other participating Robins have come up with! Just click the link at the beginning of the post to be redirected to the official Round Robin blog. Better yet... why don't you join us? I know Karen would be very pleased to have you join in!
:)
Mood: Happy/Nostalgic
~Me :)
1 comment:
Wow! That first shot is just arresting, the gateway to something that isn't there any more. (I love the effects!) The rest are rather wonderful, too. I agree: it's a shame the original place is gone, but what's left looks like a great and intriguing place to explore. Funny how we both thought along the same lines - except that there's almost less remaining of your modern ruins than my ancient ones.
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