Entering the the unknown.
On a hot, steamy August morning in 2008 I approached the Quartermaster's Warehouse at Fort Andrews on Peddocks Island. As I trudged through the gigantic almost pre-historic looking weeds and ferns I noticed the ground had become quite muddy due to the rainstorms the night before. I had never in seven summers of going there seen a single mammal on the island, not even a squirrel, but as I looked down that day I noticed cloven hoof prints in the muddy path leading up to the warehouse. "Deer?" was my first reaction, "Or the devil!" was my second. (This being Peddocks I had learned over the years that it was a wildly different kind of place and to expect virtually any realization in this world of altered perception.) Despite my trepidation about encountering the Prince of Darkness himself I proceeded to enter the building. The warehouse was actually two separate buildings connected together to appear as one large brick structure. The other half was the Corps of Engineers warehouse. The Quartermaster's portion of the building was where a large mural of the USS North Carolina had allegedly been drawn by Italian POWs who were interned here during World War II. This was located in a very dark office on the second floor. Though I had been in the office in years past it was so dark that I didn't know the drawing was there until years later when after hearing about its existence I went to deliberately to search it out. Such was Peddocks where in the shifting light things appeared and disappeared almost as though in a dream.
I had been photographing and documenting the drawings in the office on a number of occasions that summer. The main culmination of this was a photo I called Between The Windows of The Sea which depicted the North Carolina image. I also recorded the two smaller crests in the room; the 241st Coast Artillery Corps unit insignia and the Coast Artillery Corps insignia as well. And as shown above I shot numerous videos of entering the building and finding the office.
On this particular day I wanted to closely examine the remarkable detail of the North Carolina drawing. This was outside of my usual operating procedure as I always tried to not get to sucked in or preoccupied by some distracting detail as while Peddocks was a magical place I always realized that it could kill you too if your head wasn't screwed on about going there. These were dangerous buildings that had not been maintained in nearly 70 years. A careless step could be disastrous. My relaxed attitude about entering the building for the fourth time in a couple of weeks led me to not "clear the building" as I always did before conducting operations. This would come back on me a short while later.
As I intently perused the picture the silence was shattered by an incredibly loud bang from the third floor. It sounded as though something extremely heavy had slammed to the floor though I knew no large objects existed in that floor. With my heart still racing from the initial shock I hurriedly gathered all my gear which I had casually laid around the room. My first inclination was to immediately abort the mission and head for the exit. But then I was overcome by a feeling of resolve to "hold the position".. I felt I had taken the building and I was determined to not be driven out no matter what. I headed to the other end of the hall where there was a large warehouse room. I dropped my gear and lit up some smoke, waiting for what or whoever made that noise to make themselves known. I left at my own speed eventually, but I never went upstairs to see what it was either. When one ascended those stairs their heads would be the first thing exposed at floor level...and I had seen those horror movies.
You can now purchase beautiful 13" x 19" prints of my new portfolio, Endless War, at my new shop at www.facebook.com/donfeeneyphotography/ as well as on my website at www.donfeeney.com
I had been photographing and documenting the drawings in the office on a number of occasions that summer. The main culmination of this was a photo I called Between The Windows of The Sea which depicted the North Carolina image. I also recorded the two smaller crests in the room; the 241st Coast Artillery Corps unit insignia and the Coast Artillery Corps insignia as well. And as shown above I shot numerous videos of entering the building and finding the office.
On this particular day I wanted to closely examine the remarkable detail of the North Carolina drawing. This was outside of my usual operating procedure as I always tried to not get to sucked in or preoccupied by some distracting detail as while Peddocks was a magical place I always realized that it could kill you too if your head wasn't screwed on about going there. These were dangerous buildings that had not been maintained in nearly 70 years. A careless step could be disastrous. My relaxed attitude about entering the building for the fourth time in a couple of weeks led me to not "clear the building" as I always did before conducting operations. This would come back on me a short while later.
As I intently perused the picture the silence was shattered by an incredibly loud bang from the third floor. It sounded as though something extremely heavy had slammed to the floor though I knew no large objects existed in that floor. With my heart still racing from the initial shock I hurriedly gathered all my gear which I had casually laid around the room. My first inclination was to immediately abort the mission and head for the exit. But then I was overcome by a feeling of resolve to "hold the position".. I felt I had taken the building and I was determined to not be driven out no matter what. I headed to the other end of the hall where there was a large warehouse room. I dropped my gear and lit up some smoke, waiting for what or whoever made that noise to make themselves known. I left at my own speed eventually, but I never went upstairs to see what it was either. When one ascended those stairs their heads would be the first thing exposed at floor level...and I had seen those horror movies.
You can now purchase beautiful 13" x 19" prints of my new portfolio, Endless War, at my new shop at www.facebook.com/donfeeneyphotography/ as well as on my website at www.donfeeney.com
