'Greg would be a perfect match to the enormity and mass of the Muskie.'
Location, location, location.... When I first began FH, and started choosing images and artists to feature, my focus was somewhat limited. I tended to have tunnel vision, and didn't appreciate the importance of both location and history. Some of my favorite photographers magnificently capture the male form in extraordinary locations that only a creative artist could imagine utilizing.
So many of these locations are not only desolate and abandoned, most are considered eye sours and on the brink of being demolished. Once vital parts of a system or community, these locations are now usually in ruins, isolated, idle, just a long forgotten piece from the past.
As an artist, Robert Colgan see's beauty in places most of us ignore. Abandoned houses, an old bank, water plant, prison, factories and train cars are just some of the vacated and neglected locations that Robert has brought back to live through his imagery. I've written before about the visual power that a young, vital naked body can bring to an lifeless area. It's almost as if the mode's energy and life force pass through their surrounding, giving it sparks of life, if only for a few fleeting moments.
I'm not there's every been a location, or structure as amazingly unique, not to mention daunting, as the Big Muskie. The story began in the summer of 1997 with a portrait request from a young man who wanted to reclaim his memories of his childhood home. His home had been razed by a local coal company and the land surrounding the house had been stripped.
When Robert and his subject arrived to shoot, Robert saw nothing but a barren landscape of only dirt and grass. Off in the distance however, Robert saw the top of huge strip mine shove. The young man told Robert that it was called The Big Muskie and was one the largest strip mine shovels in existence. The Big Muskie itself was threatened with demolition as it was no longer functioning and had been sitting there idle for several years.
'It took me until Spring of 1998 to discover a route to the shovel then find an appropriate model. At the time, Greg was a trainer at my gym. He always prided himself on a drug-free physique and, oh what a physique he had!! Greg would be a perfect match to the enormity and mass of the Muskie. Of course no one in our city really knew of this machine so Greg was anxious to take part in my adventure.'
'Greg is a very sweet guy, a big kid in such a big body. We had to stop of the drive out so he could get the latest toy available in the McDonald's Fun meal! When we arrived near the beast, we had to park on a gravel access road then begin walking. The Muskie tempted us like a mirage. Every time you crested a rise in the road you thought the machine would be visible but it still begged for more. When we finally crested reached it, we were awestruck. It was a massive 20 stories tall at the top of the boom and the body was the size of a building. Strangely there were buzzards circling the top of the crane as if it were some huge dead dinosaur.'
'Greg admirably climbed onto various sections and posed beautifully for my shots. His boyfriend at the time also came along as a bit of a wary protector. Gradually even he wanted to hop on the machine. We must have spent about 2 hours or so working around the incredible machine. Exhausted we decided to leave.'
'The Muskie actually sat in a slight depression of earth, the ground around it gave signs of its previous life. The entire time we were near the monster we kept hearing noises and rumbles. We knew that there was still activity around us. As we were walking up from the Muskies pit, Greg's boyfriend shouted "Run!" I looked up to see a mine security vehicle approaching. Having experienced near misses like this before I squelched his comment and suggested we walk calmly toward him. The security guard was very pleasant. After telling him that we were interested in old machines like the Muskie and were there to photograph it before it was demolished, he gave us a rather detailed history of the beast, then offered us a ride in his pickup back to our car. We never did learn whether the guard had actually seen any of our activity but he was very helpful to three hot explorers on this June day.'
'The Big Muskie was eventually dismantled the next year. The massive bucket which could hold two Greyhound buses was put on display in Bristol, Ohio. And part of the land the Muskie destroyed became an outdoor animal park run by the Columbus Zoo called the Wilds. I always claim the I am one step ahead of the wrecking ball when it comes to my photography. In this case, it was perfect timing!'
