keith dotson photography Archives

The December 2025 edition of our ‘DISPATCH’ Photography Newsletter is Now Available

Keith Dotson's December 2025 video newsletter about photography has been released. Subscribe on Patreon or become a YouTube channel member.

All About Prints Antique Photographs Photography Video

Historic Photographs on Loose Pages from a Family Photo Album Circa 1916

Fine art photographer Keith Dotson shares a look at a set of old 1916 snapshots from his collection of antique photographs

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Keith Dotson and I'm a professional fine art photographer who specializes primarily in landscapes and abandoned places photography. I started learning photography in junior high -- which as you could see in the intro -- was quite a while ago -- I'm no spring chicken -- but I got serious about photography as my chosen art form about 20 years ago in my early 40s. I use this channel to document my road trips to find the decaying beauty of small towns, rural areas, and sometimes bigger cities of middle america. Occasionally I will hear from a resident of someplace I've photographed, complaining that I only focused on the run-down parts of their town. And honestly, that may have been true. That's where my interest lies - in capturing the crumbling places and the inherent mystery and beauty that they hold. I mean no disrespect -- just the opposite -- my intention is to make art. And whenever possible, I try to find histories to match to the imagery -- so that the stories of these places can be told. -------- Well we are about to exit and near our off ramp it looks like there's a fire of some kind. Welcome to Bessemer, Alabama. It took several hours to get here. This place came highly recommended as a hotspot of abandoned buildings, but I have to say on my initial drive through town, it looked pretty nice. I found myself hoping I hadn't gotten up at 4:30 AM and drove four hours for nothing, but ultimately Bessmer delivered the goods. There was a lot of very interesting abandonment there and in this video I'll share some of it with you. Bessemer has a current population of about 25 - 27,000 people. It's a suburb of Birmingham -- a big city with a fair amount of abandoned places itself. Bessemer was founded in 1887. Thanks to the iron ore, coal, and limestone in the vicinity, Bessemer became a steel producing town, and grew rapidly, quickly becoming a Victorian era boomtown. The national register of historic places says that the city had wealthy people with the means to create architectural "confections." Like other parts of the nation, Steel production declined in the late 20th century and ultimately left Bessemer altogether. By 2019, 24/7 Wall Street declared Bessemer as the worst city to live in Alabama. Famed baseball player Bo Jackson was born in Bessemer. Noted photographer P.H. Polk was born here in 1898, and for five years ran the Department of Photography at the Tuskegee Institute, and he was the Institute's official photographer for 40 years. He also operated a studio in town. --- This was the Bessemer Grocery Company built in 1907 -- they sold wholesale groceries, flour, feed and fertilizer. The beauty of the old ghost sign is lost next to all the hideous modern signage all over the building. The second floor was a boarding house advertised as the "A.J. Jenkins furnished rooms." ---- Gibson Sheet Metal Works -- I'm nt exactly sure what's going on with that window frame sticking off the edge of the existing building? ----- Look at this! That's the ruins of the Lincoln Theatre, built in 1948 and closed in the late 70s or early 80s. This was a theater built to show movies to an African American audience at a time when the Deep South was still very much segregated and Black movie-goers couldn't go to whites-only theaters. The building was purchased by Bessemer native Andre Holland in 2017, who is a professional actor, with plans to restore it for use as a movie theater and events space. As of 2024, newspapers reported that was still the plan, although to my eye it appears no work has been done to date. I found a 2019 article with many photos of the inside of the theater, which still has the original seats and the old projectors intact. There were some old film reels stacked up with some cuttings of old movies curled up, and handwritten copies of flyers advertising Beverly Hills Cop 2. --- In the same area as the theatre there were quite a few scattered buildings. Let's walk down here first. Then we will go see the others. --- This is a museum now, but it was built in 1916 to serve as the Southern Railroad Passenger Station. It's hard to tell if the museum is actually still open or if it's permanently closed. ------ Oh look at this --- These are really cool old brick buildings but the obvious and very clumsy repaints of the vintage signs is unfortunate. I mean look how poor that paint job is. I think it's safe to say that Coca-Cola would never have authorized a paint job that bad. Personally I prefer to see an extremely faded original wall ad over even a competent fresh repaint. This building was a Trolley Line Freight Depot for the old Birmingham to Bessemer trolley service. It was constructed in 1905. After the trolley stopped using it, it became a soft drink warehouse and later a warehouse for Colley's Wholesale Liquors. I processed the sky in two ways -- lighter and darker. Based on this marker, I think the repaint probably happened in 2011. Beneath the cracked stucco you can see the original typographic craftsmanship of the professional sign painters. --------- That faded sign says Anderson Cleaners. It's all vacant. ---- I love this! This restaurant was originally a service station called the WoCoPep Station built in 1928. A taxi service operated out of this building at some point in its history as well. Again I processed that deep blue sky as deep black and mid gray, but I wanted to make sure these plants on the chimney didn't get lost in the dark sky so I went lighter. --- I was walking toward that big white building in the distance but this utility pole caught my attention -- the vines on it make it look like it's gone feral. --- This big building beside the tracks was built in 1917 as the Bessemer Freight Depot for the Southern Railway Company, which also built the train depot we saw earlier. An architectural salvage and furniture store operated in the building from 2014 until 2017.

Abandoned Places Alabama Architecture Photography New Work Photography Video

Black and White Photographs of Historic Architecture in the Distressed City of Bessemer, Alabama

Fine art photographer Keith Dotson provides history of some of the most interesting abandoned places in Bessemer, Alabama, along with his black and white photographs.

An abandoned house in College Hill, St. Louis

Abandoned Places Architecture Photography New Work Photography

Saint Louis: Gritty Industrial and Historic Abandoned House Photography

Black and white photographs of St Louis abandoned houses and industrial buildings with some details of their history.

Photographer Keith Dotson announces a new YouTube channel with videos of animals and birds found in his local urban wetland

Environment News Outdoors Tennessee Video

Announcing my new YouTube channel: ‘Tales from an Urban Wetland’

Keith Dotson announces a new wildlife video channel on YouTube focused on the birds, animals, and reptiles found in a local urban wetland close to his home

Antique Photographs History of Photography Photography Video

Looking at an Antique Portrait of a Group of Brothers and Sisters (Maybe 1880s?)

In this video, we examine a whole-plate antique tintype portrait of a group of young people framed in an old oval picture frame.

Dispatch Newsletter News Photography Video

Watch the Latest Issue of My Video Newsletter, Dispatch

A free, public issue of photograper Keith Dotson's video newsletter Dispatch, which is released at least once per month, and sometimes more

Abandoned Places Architecture Photography New Work Photography Video Virginia

Video: Shenandoah Valley Abandoned Places Photography AND a Visit to Lexington, Virginia — Sally Mann’s Hometown

Join photographer Keith Dotson as he wanders off I-81 in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where he sees some abandoned beauties on backroads and then make a day trip to see where photographer Sally Mann was raised.

Abandoned Places History New Work Photography Virginia

Photo and History of the Preston-Crockett House in Southwestern Virginia

Updated October 20, 2025: Photo and history of the endangered Preston-Crockett House at Seven Mile Ford on I-81 in southwestern Virginia