MARYLAND — While Maryland's many historic towns and sites draw tourists by the hundreds, Carol Bardzell, photographer and author, finds herself more interested in sites that have been overlooked and abandoned. Her new book, “Abandoned Maryland,” puts her deep fascination with the history of the deserted sites on full-color display.
Bardzell was born in Connecticut and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Monserrat College in Massachusetts. During her college senior seminar project in 2011, Bardzell came down to Maryland – to visit her boyfriend at the time – and fell in love with the landscape.
“It’s so different down here than up in Connecticut where I was born,” Bardzell said.
She spent the rest of that summer visiting Maryland monthly with her camera to go out and take photos of the many abandoned buildings.
For her senior project, Bardzell created a 30-image book and, after graduation, turned her back on publishing. But it wasn't long before Arcadia Publishing approached her, wanting to create a full book out of her photographs but needing more pictures to go in it. Given a fresh project, Bardzell was once again able to indulge her passion for Maryland's abandoned buildings. And now she could share her fascination with the general public.
“I’ve always been fascinated with abandoned buildings and why they were abandoned in the first place and how nature kinda takes back those buildings after a while,” Bardzell said. “There are a lot more abandoned sites than people think. You can easily stumble upon them. The Calhall’s Property I shot at was one of those, I was dropping my car off for repairs and then found it.”
Her love of nature and passion for the places abandoned by humanity and reclaimed by nature has led to an extensive collection of photos showing off these locations that were once occupied, now deserted and sometimes destroyed.
Bardzell feels a connection to these old buildings and run-down sites. And she seeks to preserve their memory through her photographs, which give a glimpse into a past forgotten and abandoned. When asked about repurposing the abandoned land, Bardzell acknowledged that that can be a good thing, but memory is lost when the abandoned sites are demolished.
“If the land is going to be used for something better, then I guess it’s a good thing," Bardzell said. "Like I think a lot of places that were torn down are now used for farmland and that’s giving us more food."
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.