R is for Rot & Ruin

Week R | Wednesday | The beauty of decay

I’ve used ‘the beauty of decay’ for many years, to refer to my love of rust, weathering, foxing, patina, peeling layers of paint, and the like.

The older and more ruined I become myself, the more drawn to it I am.

It finally occurred to me over the weekend to wonder who else used or uses that phrase, as surely others do.

And indeed, there’s a German photographer, an American botanicals artist, a Japanese botanicals artist, an American photographer of flora, and many more. There’a film about Detroit, which looks like every city in every post-apocalypse novel.

Award-winning design and cinematography aside, perhaps I’m able to find dystopias in films like the Blade Runner series compellingly sublime because I find this aesthetic and atmosphere beautiful generally.

And you?