Open Door, The Ark, Durham, North Carolina
Open Doors are a photographer’s friend. A long time ago I participated in a photographic group that met on the campus of Duke University. One afternoon before I left campus, I walked over to an old building and pulled a door handle. The door opened and I walked in. The building was the original gymnasium for Duke University and was repurposed as a dance studio. It is still called “The Ark” because of a mezzanine running track just wide enough for two people. I was the only one in the building. There is something about walking into an empty building the size of a basketball court. Footsteps echo and vanish quickly into the large open space. You wonder if there is anyone else is inside the building because the door was open. You make small, quiet steps and try not make your “Hello?” too overpowering, because you want to identify anyone else there with you and not scare the bejesus out of them. You also don’t want to make too much noise because you’re not really sure if you’re allowed to be in this empty building. You walk slowly and softly straining to hear a sound other than your footfalls.
Once you are almost sure that you are alone in this large, empty room, you think to yourself, “How am I going to photograph the quiet?”
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