A few years ago I came across this work by Canadian photographer and artist Robin Collyer and then I came across a few the other day on the web.
These aren't houses, but rather they are disguised electrical substations, complete with windows, curtains and a bit of lawn and landscaping.
This is one of those things you can really do only once and that you luck into and just come across. I just like the idea of tracking these places down, as well as exploring the ideas behind the mind of a Utility deciding to do this, and how it replicated the feel of homes in different neighbourhoods.
"During the 1950s and 1960s, the Hydro-Electric public utilities in the metropolitan region of Toronto built structures known as 'Bungalow-Style Substations.' These stations, which have transforming and switching functions, were constructed in a manner that mimics the style and character of the different neighborhoods... there are about 100 of these structures located on residential streets in the central and the suburban parts of the greater Toronto area."
All in all rather neat.
4 comments:
Terribly ugly photographs but very interesting places... it would be nice to see these places done via another set of "eye's".
Perhaps "mundane" or "flat/dim" is a bit better than "terribly ugly"... and of course, entirely subjective.
(Sorry: Robin Collyer) ;)
Pretty sure someone did a similar essay with disguised cell phone towers.
"Luck is the attentative photographer's best teacher." John Szarkowski. I find them charming.
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