The "Research Division."

It was the holiday break of 2008 when Venkman and I struggled through a maze of dead plant life and stoic tree branches covering the asphalt path that had once been a driveway. Walking right past the empty, crumbling guard shack and into the complex's courtyard, the rare Midwest winter sunlight glimmered off the eerie, metallic lettering on the front of the building which read: Research Division.


What research had been done here, we didn't know, we had discovered someplace new. We had no idea of the building's past and wouldn't have noticed it concealed behind all the overgrown plant life near the road had it not been for a quick glance in the right direction while cruising by. Venkman set up his tripod as I rounded the building's corner to get an idea for how big the facility was, that's when I noticed we were not alone.

Who was that guy? Was he supposed to be there? Was he a scrap thief? I didn't care to make friends or exchange pleasantries as I saw the man carrying boxes to and from a beat up Chevy Astro. Not sure of whether he had seen me or not, I uttered "time to go" to Venkman as we politely exited down the road from whence we came.

A year later, Venkman would be out of town, but Jeffrey would be up for an adventure as we entered the outskirts of the "Research Division." The surrounding junked cars, broken windows and decaying buildings made it seem as if we had stepped directly into a level from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (the first one). Climbing a network of stairs in the first building, we were anxious to make sure there was no unexpected company; whether they be scrappers or virtual communist soldiers.


I mulled over what little information the internet had revealed about this building's past while Jeffrey and I gazed out the windows of the building's top floor, keeping an eye out for any "tangos," or unexpected guests. The complex of buildings had once been offices and laboratories for the U.S.I. division of Quantum Chemicals. Quantum had purchased the facility in 1988, a few years before they moved their headquarters to the Cincinnati area. Eventually Quantum Chemical's presence in the area diminished and sometime around 2003 they sold the property. Signage on some of the building walls indicated that the facilities may have been used by the University of Cincinnati at one point, but today the property is pretty much barren and used as storage for tractor trailers and other junk, mostly automobiles that have been gutted for parts.

Jeffrey and I weren't the first visitors though, everywhere the walls and ceilings were torn up with pipes and metal left exposed by scrap thieves that had ravaged the place. As we put together our cameras we noticed polaroids that had been left on the ground by a photographer before us. "Looks like we're clear, no one else is here" I muttered as we began having a look around.




Most of the labs were empty, void of any remnants of their past life. Car parts and junk littered the floors while signage and telephones on the walls remained as clues to the building's past purpose.




We started from the top and worked our way down, gazing out the windows and keeping an eye on how much daylight was left. Many of the rooms were repetitive and just filled with trash and moldy carpet.


Before moving on to the next set of buildings we came across two old vehicles. An old Cadillac with the words "JFK Limo" written into the dust on the windshield...


...and a hearse devoid of a windshield and air for its tires.


Again with the next building we started from the top and worked our way down. On the top floor of building #2 we found boxes of old records in the elevator's mechanical room.



As we continued our downward exploration, we came upon more offices and the building's lobby, where a broken glass display case featured only one award:


Simultaneous Self Portraits:


- Taken at the same time, left photo by Jeffrey, right photo by Gordon.
The lobby lead to long hallways followed by more laboratories.



Eventually we reached a series of rooms with maroon carpet and 70's style wood paneled walls. Stepping into a section with a large table and a collection of chalkboards and empty chairs surrounding it, we agreed that it must have been a "board room" of sorts. 8 track tapes and an old television reflected the same era of the room's decor.


On a nearby shelf was by far the most eye catching historical remnant, a December 1972 issue of Playboy magazine:


Despite the magazine's brittle and water damaged condition, you know that we couldn't help but take a look inside...

- "Bunny-Playmate MERCY ROONEY -- A neophyte rodeo fan -- has her hopes for the future riding on an acting career." [Playboy Magazine, December 1972]
"Jeffrey, real or fake?" I jokingly asked as we gazed at the centerfold who is now 59 years old, but was 22 when the photo was taken. "Definitely real." he replied. "They didn't have a surgery for fake ones back then." Actually Jeffrey, they did.

A collection of vintage items like those in your grandparent's or parent's closet (maybe even your own) continued to be found in the form of an Electrolux vacuum, Husman's potato chip can and an Underwood typewriter.




Not to mention, the old school skateboard:

- Gordon Bombay or pro skateboarding sensation Derrick Whipple?
The temperature dropped and the daylight began to disappear. Checking one last time to make sure we weren't going to come upon any "tangos" like last year, we departed the Research Division.


To see more photographs of the Quantum Chemicals Research Division, check out the QC/D Photo Gallery :: Cincinnati Urbex :: Quantum Chemicals (gallery launches in a new window).

Previous Update :: December 15, 2009 - "Six New Prints for Sale!"

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Six New Prints for Sale (only four left)!

"Deck the Halls with Photos of Abandoned Buildings!"

Christmas is a week from Friday, Hanukkah has already started and I'm sure everyone has someone they have to get a birthday gift for sooner or later. Maybe you just want to spruce up your apartment/residence with some cool local photo work. What makes it even cooler? These prints are from places most people would never go to or haven't been to, they capture the city we all live in and around in a unique way.


Exploring Cincinnati was a photographic exhibition at The Bett's House back in October featuring photographs of the city's abandoned and forgotten locations (see photo above) that myself and fellow photographer Sherman Cahal have seen over the years.

The exhibition has since ended and I still have six one-of-a-kind, first edition prints for sale. Framed in metal, black frames with a white matte. The 11x17 inch photos are reasonably priced at $50.00, while the 8.5x11 inch ones are $40.00 (frame and matte included!). Here's what I have available and here's what soon could be making a great gift for someone you know or yourself:


"Joe Wilcher's Room" - 11 x 17 inch Framed & Matted - $50.00

This vertical photograph captures the clutter of shelves, books and personal items left behind by a Korean War veteran named Joe Wilcher who disappeared from his Over-The-Rhine apartment and had a penchant for collecting literature and building things. From the QC/D update: "The Unsolved Mystery of Joe Wilcher - May 2009"


"Hudepohl's Neon Sign" - 8.5 x 11 inch Framed & Matted - $40.00

The abandoned Hudepohl Brewery and our multiple subsequent explorations there have been featured on QC/D time and time again. Found on the roof of the decrepit Queensgate building were these two neon lights, the last two letters of a Hudepohl sign that had been a landmark in Cincinnati for years.


"Wilson Auditorium" - 11 x 17 inch Framed & Matted - $50.00

The beautiful Art-Deco style Wilson Auditorium was constructed on the University of Cincinnati campus in 1931 and has sat unused since 2004. The theatre hosted the University's theatrical performances at one point along with a host of concerts, lectures, speeches and classes. Taken during the summer of 2009, this photograph shows the forgotten seats and stage that may soon face the university's wrecking ball. From the QC/D update: "Gordon Bombay and the Auditorium of Doom - October, 2009."


"Bush Stadium" - 8.5 x 11 inch Framed & Matted - $40.00

Bush Stadium in Indianapolis was the former home of the city's AAA baseball team, the Indianapolis Indians. While the team was affiliated with many major league franchises over the years, it was for a time partnered with the Cincinnati Reds and was home to many Reds greats such as Dave Concepcion, Ken Griffey Sr., and the Boone brothers just to name a few. Abandoned in 2001, the stadium still stands today as a reminder to a forgotten generation of America's Favorite past time. From the QC/D update: "Bush Stadium - August, 2009."


"The Cincinnati Subway: Stairs to the Surface" - SOLD!

This striking, almost eerie, black and white photographs captures the daylight coming in from the surface and onto the abandoned platform of the Race St. subway station, the largest station in Cincinnati's abandoned subway system. Back room politics, world events and changing demographics caused the subsequent abandonment of what would have been the Queen City's underground transit line that despite being over 80 years old, could still one day be used. Often the subject of local urban legend and folk lore, the Cincinnati Subway makes for a great conversation piece. From the QC/D Update: "The Cincinnati Subway - March, 2009."


"The Cincinnati Subway: Race Street Station" - SOLD!

Another photograph of the city's abandoned subway, this one shows the incredible length and depth of the track, platform and tunnel of the Race St. station, located beneath the city's streets. Printed at 300 dpi, this photograph allows you to have an incredibly detailed and clear view of a local legend, the abandoned Cincinnati Subway! From the QC/D Update: "The Cincinnati Subway - March, 2009."

All these photographs are available for purchase in the Queen City Discovery store via a secure and safe PayPal transaction. There is only one of each available! I know for a lot of people money can be tight or time might be of the essence to get one of these in time for the holidays. If so, and if you live close to or will be downtown sometime soon, I could probably arrange to meet you and drop your purchase off to you depending on my schedule. Just shoot me an email and we'll see if we can work something out. Alternatively, the shipping costs are pretty reasonable and shipped via UPS from Fairfield, Ohio within 1-2 business days (Realistically I'm home on break from school and can probably get the order out within 1 business day).

Hope you see something you like, make sure to check out the other items in the QC/D store such as the "Forgotten Cincinnati" prints starting at $20.00!

Happy Holidays and QC/D will be back with a new update next week!

Previous Update :: December 13, 2009 - "The (Cincinnati) Money Problem"

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The (Cincinnati) Money Problem

I transferred from Ohio University to Northern Kentucky University last Spring, but didn't start my first semester at NKU until August of 2009. While I'm still studying photography, just not Photojournalism exclusively, I was required to take a fine art foundations class as part of my degree study. I think I'm one of a few in the class that isn't a fine arts major, really into fine art or an extremely critical prick (not that all fine arts majors, people in this class or people who appreciate art are "pricks," but lets just say there are a few classmates who are a little too full of themselves and their work).

Anyways, while I feel I will end up with a good grade in the class and learned a bit here and there, I feel I'll appreciate photography as an art and form of expression much more than I'll ever appreciate 2D composition. Despite that feeling, I still had to pass the class. For the final project we were given a "problem," which we have to "solve" by completing the project. The final project was to research different forms of world currency and develop our own. So long as our currency featured a list of requirements, it could be any theme we wanted and be done by any media. Since I'll always be better with a camera and photoshop than I am with a paintbrush, I decided to make my bills on the computer. The catch was that I could only use government symbols and my own photographs. I had already spent hundreds in art supplies and hours of my time on this class, I needed something I could get done effectively and cheaply. Something I knew well...so I chose "Cincinnati" as my theme. After brainstorming ideas and asking for ideas on Facebook and Twitter, this is what I came up with; my final Art 132 project:

"Commemorative Cincinnati Currency"(Click for larger picture size)

Assignment Requirements:
- 3 Separate bills, front and back.
- 3 color scheme per bill.
- Must include a denomination.
- Must include a historical person or object.
- Must include a proof of authenticity.
- Must include a serial number.
- Must include an anti-counterfeit measure.
- Must include a date of issue.

1) The $1,788 "Juncta Juvant" bill:

Front.
Back.
Overall I wanted the bills to feature a somewhat muted, monochromatic base color like American money has, but I wanted there to always be a photograph in the background, something to look at. This was the first one I came up with. The bill is valued at $1,782 dollars to represent the year Cincinnati was founded (1782) and features a photograph of current mayor Mark Mallory on the front. The front also has city seal prominently in the center and the signature of "Treasurer" Milton Dohoney (script font substituted for signature) beneath the issue date. The blank space at the bottom left of the front of the bill, bottom right of the back of the bill, is an area that I cut out and replaced with a clear plastic. This is where the serial number would be printed. Plastic polymer is a common anti-counterfeit technique on currency, like in Australia. I put the plastic in on my final project, but it's not viewable here, because I'm too lazy to scan in the final ones.

The back of the bill features a base photograph of the Cincinnati riverfront with a firework exploding above it along with a merged image of the "Genius of Water" statue from Fountain Square, one of the city's best known landmarks. The text at the bottom states the day the city was established, the day Mallory was elected and the city motto; "Juncta Juvant," which means "strength in unity."

2) The $4,256 "Pete Rose" bill:

Front.
Back.
"Wait a minute, that's not Pete Rose! Isn't that Ramon Hernandez?" Yeah, ok, it is Ramon Hernandez. The idea for a Pete Rose bill came courtesy of Venkman. In theory, this bill would feature a 1985 photograph of Pete Rose in the center, the year he broke the hit record, but I wasn't alive in 1985. Well, shouldn't it at least have a photo of Pete Rose? Sure, it should, but I've never seen Pete Rose or photographed him. I have, however, inadvertently taken a photograph of the scoreboard at Great American Ballpark and Ramon just happened to be up there. So for all intents and purposes we're going to substitute Mr. Hernandez for Mr. Rose...you get the idea and it was just too damn hard/time consuming to attempt to draw Pete Rose. Anyways, the front features the number 4,256 displayed prominently twice, once for how many dollars the bill is worth and once for how many hits Pete Rose had in his career. The front would feature the signatures of "Treasurer" Dohoney and Peter Ueberoth, the MLB head honcho when Pete broke the record. In the background on both sides of the bill we see the Reds current home, Great American Ballpark, while on the back a small line of text recognizes the Reds title as baseball's first professional team. Again, the blank spaces are where the polymer goes.

3) The $1,932 "Art Deco Series" bill:

Front.
Back.

The third bill is worth $1,932. Union Terminal was completed in 1933, the Carew Tower in 1931, 1932 is the year in between those times. Both structures are the two most recognizable symbols of Art Deco architecture in Cincinnati. The front of the bill features a photograph of the exterior of Union Terminal while the background photo is from the interior of the terminal's dome.

For the back of the bill I wanted to do something different. During one of my photo critiques back at Ohio University, former AP photographer Marcy Nighswander, the teacher of the class, remarked how much she loved vertical photographs and rarely saw them anymore. Since then I've tried to take a lot of vertical photos and since all currency I came across while researching this project was in a horizontal format, I thought it might be interesting to have a bill that could be viewed vertically as well as horizontally. Since the back of the bill features the tall Carew Tower, it can also be viewed vertically:

Back.
The background image is of a panoramic photo I took of the Cincinnati landscape atop the Carew Tower. As stated earlier, the blank rectangles are where the polymer/serial numbers would go.

Overall I wanted the bills to commemorate Cincinnati history. If they were real they'd be some sort of Cincinnati gift card, equal to American dollars but only usable within the city limits, meaning you can't use them at the Kenwood Towne Centre. I wanted them to be photogenic and show off some of the cool aspects and landmarks of the city, sort of like a postcard on your duckets.

Thanks to everyone who helped give me ideas. I'm glad to be done with this project and this class. There are a lot of talented people in it and the teacher was cool, but the cost of art supplies and time it required really stressed me out. It was hard to balance the insane amount of work the assignments for this class required against my other classes, job and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Time to enjoy the holiday break and go explore abandoned buildings/take photographs of stuff.

P.S. I know Milton Dohoney is not the city treasurer, but he was the only other city official I could remember at the time when working on this.

Previous Update :: December 9, 2009 - "The Greatest Show in Town."

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The "Greatest Show in Town."

It's not Ringling Brothers and it's not Cirque du Soleil, but it's a Cincinnati tradition that has traversed other mid-western cities and the entire nation since 1906. Usually stopping for three days of shows in the Queen City, the Syrian Shrine Circus has been hosted by both the Cincinnati Gardens and the Schumacher Center on UC's campus over the years, providing a more intimate and unique view into the American three-ring circus tradition that is rarely found today.

This year, the circus stopped at the historic Cincinnati Gardens, for its new "Holiday Extravaganza" show.


It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I hadn't stepped foot in the Cincinnati Gardens since I did some photo and media work for the Jr. Cyclones hockey team back in 2006. Even then the atmosphere of the place still wasn't like it used to be when the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks called it home.

I had spoken with the Shrine Circus office in New York city over the phone. Mr. Kreiner had been nice enough to grant me permission to photograph the set up of the circus and one of the shows. I wasn't doing this for a school project or on an assignment for anyone, I wanted to do this for myself, a personal project. I hadn't gone to a circus since I was a kid and wanted to document what I felt was one of the last "real" American circuses. Ringling Brothers puts on a great show, but I feel things like Cirque de Soleil are better suited for well off tourists in Las Vegas and that the "major" circuses lacked the kind of personality and tradition that had been found in the three ring acts of our nations past. Entertainment like this was great to grow up on.

- A worker assembles a piece of the Shrine Circus show.
The circus' crew and cast worked together to bring in all the equipment and set up the show. Performers who would eventually be seen flying on the trapeze and performing death defying stunts were helping to carry in the plush animals and souvenirs while others made cotton candy and set up the concessions.



Most people didn't really care to be photographed or talk too long with me and to be honest I can't blame them. They were just going about their jobs and probably ready to take a break for Thanksgiving. They were all incredibly friendly though. There wasn't much going on with the setup and I spent most of the time just wandering about the Gardens, remembering how great it is to see a hockey game there.

After spending Thanksgiving in Indiana I returned home to photograph the Saturday afternoon show. Walking into the arena and onto the floor the smells of the circus took over; popcorn, cotton candy, elephant waste. Kids and their families ran about to the elephant rides, giant slide, face painting and to get the autographs of the various performers and clowns roaming around.



The announcement was made for the audience to take their seats and the lower sections of the Gardens began to fill up. Charles, one of the well known ushers at the Gardens remarked to me; "looks like a good crowd today."


The show opened up with bright lights, acrobatic performers and modern pop songs that felt a bit awkward, but seemed to work with the show. With songs from High School Musical and Hannah Montana blaring, it was evident who the target audience in the seats was.


Not many realize the constant activity and hard work that goes into a show like this. While one act is going on, someone is always busy setting up in the darkness or backstage, getting ready to keep the show going.






Following a brief intermission of more elephant rides, face painting and plastic light sword buying, the show resumed with one of it's headline acts: The Flying Wallendas.


The 200mm lens of my camera allowed me to get a pretty close view of the Wallenda family as they traversed the tightrope on two bicycles, you could see them sweating and starting to shake. Just crazy.




The BMX bike stunts of one performer were more evidence of the generation and audience of today that the circus attempts to appeal to, while the clowns carried on an always classic circus tradition.





Eventually a parade of elephants marked the beginning of the grand finale for what the ringmaster called "The Greatest Show in Town."




After the finale ceased, the arena's lights came back on and the elephant rides started again. Kids ran about to purchase more light up swords, go on the rides and meet the clowns. I walked around for a bit before saying goodbye to Charles, one of the nicest ushers and a friend from the Mighty Ducks/Jr. Cyclones days who can also be found at US Bank Arena for Cyclones games:


The Shrine Circus puts on a great show. Even as a twenty year old photographer standing on the arena floor, I think I enjoyed it just as much as every little kid in that audience. Seeing the Shrine Circus at a place like the Cincinnati Gardens is a tradition here. I'll take the cheap tickets, gritty atmosphere, plastic swords, cotton candy, burnt popcorn and "Soul to Squeeze" like feeling that the Shrine Circus offers over the Las Vegas style opera extravagance "Cirque de Soleil" provides any day.



Previous Update :: December 6, 2009 - "Always Coca Cola."

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