Decay - Rust, Flaking Paint and New Patinas

All things age and over time they can morph into a new, sometimes subtle, sometimes surprising, form of beauty.

Whether it’s lack of maintenance or the effects of the elements, material objects weather, rust, rot and decay. And it is during this metamorphosis that we can see new colours and patterns.

In the case of this rainwater pipe its life is exposed in the different paint layers that have flaked away over the years. Quite why the pipe was ever painted purple or pink is another matter. Each chipped paint layer creates superimposed patterns. But surely rain pipes are only ever black? They are an essential part of an invisible infrastructure within the built environment. We pass them every day and do not pay attention.

I forget where this was shot - Cornwall for sure but exactly where I do not remember. I was struck by the distressed paint that had rendered the boat’s planking a subtle blend of greys, creams and taupe. Time and the elements have weathered this boat not to the point of destruction but to a beauty revealed by the passing years. We again see natural materials expressing character in their ageing that modern materials can not even come close to matching.

Perched above the harbour at Port Isaac in Cornwall are a series of fisherman’s lock up huts - a place to store their nets and other paraphernalia when not in use. The salt air and sea spray has rendered the padlock useless and shoot bolt only just about functions. Yet the elements have worked to make the mundane a brief object of beauty. Most people would never spot this tiny testimony to the power of the elements and yet for me it reveals colour, patina, texture and shape in one insignificant image.

Further along the coast at Clovelly, Devon, the low water exposes these long chains lying on the stone beach. Still strong and retaining their structural integrity the seawater has rendered them colourful in a surprising way. Not just brown rust and the greening of sea lichens but a bright orange colour in places. Their strength is undiminished for now but the corrosive action of the sea will in time take its toll and in doing so the decay will develop further patinas and textures.

In these images we see the quiet nemesis of man’s craftsmanship - decay and impermanence.

We easily dismiss these small details as unimportant and trivial as indeed they are but we should take time to look examine and consider the frailty of all things and to find a beauty in the very process of decay.