Alex's Random Photography

Bennigan's, a rather famous Irish pub chain, was a popular joint in Topeka until it closed its doors about three years ago and has been empty since. Personally, I never got the chance to go there but always wanted to and capturing the photos of the bare and desolate outside of it was the closest I've gotten to it. There's talks of a culinary school opening up there in the near future, and I think that would be awesome since there isn't really any around here that makes headline news or that many people know about. There's also many empty buildings along Topeka Boulevard so it's awesome to me that someone is actually taking initiative to open something new up in the area. If the culinary school opens, I wish it the best and I might even have to take some classes there to gain some knowledge in the world of making fine food!

Local mini playgrounds are another favorite of mine. Spending so much time as a kid on playgrounds, seeing these mini ones that are in local neighborhoods that I never see anyone at whenever I drive by them brings a bit of sadness to me. It's also kind of spooky seeing a mini playground almost deserted basically. The setup for these two playground equipment is in the neighborhood that my cousin lives in so I see them frequently and have yet to ever see it occupied. Doesn't it just give you a sense of nostalgia a little bit?

A common theme for most of my photo work is desertion. And no I'm not talking about the classic Clifford Simak Science Fiction short story, but rather the actual concept of desertion. Emptiness is something that every human can relate to with one another, we've all felt empty and drained of any motivation at some point in our lives. So seeing deserted public places is something that I really love encountering and exploring, a combination of the spookiness of what lies inside and the relation of desertion that we all feel is something incredible. This one is especially special to me though because I have some fond memories of this K-Mart from when I was younger. When something you used to visit and experience is no longer in existence, it's something emotional. I'm not sure if anything will ever come into this former K-Mart but I'm glad I was able to capture it to keep those memories of it alive.