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Black and white photograph of an old auto parts storefront
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Black and white photograph of an old auto parts storefront

Keith Dotson
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Why take a photo of this apparently defunct auto parts store? Texture baby!

Abandoned auto parts store in the Mississippi Delta, Black and white photograph by Keith Dotson.
Abandoned auto parts store in the Mississippi Delta, black and white photograph by Keith Dotson. Click to buy a signed fine art print.

While walking the streets of Greenwood, Mississippi, I immediately fell in love with this apparently defunct auto parts storefront. In addition to the fascination of it’s fading retro signs and ads, every quadrant of this photograph is rich with textures. And, I’m all about the textures!

Texture overload: Faux stonework made of pressed sheet metal, bricks with peeling paint, weathered plywood: this section of the photograph has all the things that give me the feels.
Texture overload: Faux stonework made of pressed sheet metal, bricks with peeling paint, weathered plywood: this section of the photograph has all the things that give me the feels.
Gloriously bad painted signs losing their edge.
Gloriously bad painted signs losing their edge.
This window hasn't been washed in a very long time. . . that's years of grime.
This window hasn’t been washed in a very long time. . . that’s years of grime.
Cracked and peeling woodwork, dark grimy cement, and brick streets -- so yummy!
Cracked and peeling woodwork, dark grimy cement, and brick streets — so yummy!

This photograph tells a story of abandoned America. It’s about small, main street businesses failing thanks to big box stores and the internet. It’s about the passing of time. It’s a window back to a time when the delta blues singers still walked these sidewalks.

Guitar Slim came from Greenwood. Blues legend Robert Johnson, who allegedly sold his soul at the crossroad, is buried in a cemetery here. BB King played his first live radio broadcast from a radio station here. Actor Morgan Freeman was born here. And being that this is the deep south, some bad things went down here too, but we won’t talk about that.

See all of my photographs of the Mississippi Delta here.

Check out these books and movies about Mississippi Delta Blues in Amazon

Or, check out this fantastic book by Peter Guralnick, highly recommended: Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll

Thanks for reading!

Be sure to visit me on Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest, or on my website at keithdotson.com.

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