Cycling is the best way to get around for me but when looking for the weathered details of our urban world I end up cycling soooo slowly. I am looking for weathered gates, fences, road-signs, vehicles, road markings...anything man-made that time and elements have worked on. It's a lot to look for at the same time and it's not easy to keep everything in mind. In that sense walking would be better except there are always long stretches that are clearly too tidy, modern and recent to have anything weathered, so often I cycle as a compromise.
Today I think I totally forgot to glance at any road markings. But I did find some lovely weathered details and some of it was old friends that had I photographed about a year ago. Hard to tell if the weathering has changed much but I enjoyed meeting and recognising them. It was just nice to know that it's still there and hasn't been painted over or otherwise destroyed. I'm sure this old pickup truck is in exactly the same place as when I last saw it. Perhaps it's been abandoned to the roadside.
I also recognised these two young guys and thought they must be getting less handsome with every oily stir-fried meal the stall owner cooks but I did compare this picture with my earlier photograph and there is actually slightly less blackened markings now. I suspect the rainy season washed some off.
One benefit of not being able to focus on everything at the same time and therefore missing good stuff is that you can work the same route again and find different things. This property sign with lovely cracking on its paintwork is an example, small and easily missed. In terms of macro this is as close as I can get and is a challenge with a hand-held camera.
Most of what I photograph is pattern where the lines and shapes have been created by the weathering process itself but sometimes the human creations are part of an abstract composition. This corroded staple holding up a metal sign has turned the tail of a Thai letter into a distraught and weeping figure!
Other times the combination of human-made lines and weathering remains purely about the shapes and colours like this old tape on a wooden door.
Similarly with these two close-ups of a sign next to tennis courts where I loved the combination of two different weathered patterns with the sharp human-made edges between them.
Occasionally, the composition is actually part of deliberate design but with the added element of weathering. This gate is an attractively simple design but the rusting and aging has added a lot to its aesthetics in my eyes.
Then we get back to the pure effects of weathering with no human lines involved. It looks like there used to be a sign on this wall and all that's left behind are some interesting streaky marks.
Another example is this little abstract of flaky paint on a rusty gate.
Finally, here is my favourite discovery from this little exploration around our local town. An old-style truck parked down a quiet back-lane with a fantastic "elephant hide" bonnet. It was too high and awkward for me to get any good close-ups without climbing all over it but I think this wide-angle gives you a good idea of just how great it is. I could forever let my eye wander over those cracks!
