Actually it’s Oak Park Mall in Overland Park, KS. It’s still a fully active mall but this was right as it was closing for the day last weekend while a friend and I were leaving the arcade.

I wound up putting another comment down below, I spoke to a friend of mine that also grew up there and whose parents still live there and have for quite a while, turns out it’s a running joke from the property owners, idl what type of tp they’re using or if there’s some other roll of paper that looks like tp they put on but you’re mostly correct, the original building burnt down a long time ago but the roll holder was left, so the property owners where putting on regular tp rolls as a joke, and have been doing it for about 30 years now, I assume they’re using some kind of rolled wax paper now considering the condition it looks to be in so it doesn’t degrade as fast but yeah, turned out to be just a running joke the owners do.

For those wondering, I just spoke to a good friend who also grew up in the same town and mentioned the traction this post got and he clarified that the roll is actually real, the holder is leftover from when the previous building burnt down decades ago but the property owners replace the roll on it every few years when it inevitibly decays and have been doing so for about 3 generations, hence why it was there when we were kids and still is now, it’s just sort of a running joke/“urban legend” for the town.

I can confirm that other than the contrast and saturation being tweaked slightly because I can’t stand when the color temp feels off in my photos, it’s completely unedited, it’s up there, and has been since I moved to that town when I was about 6, idk if it helps as proof but here it is on google streetview lol

The odd thing about it, the building it’s on is currently a financial investment broker, there’s a small mural lower down at ground level on the wall with various 1800s politicians, and that roll has been there since I was a kid and has been there about 22 years at least, up until the investment broker moved in a few years ago, the building was abandoned, it was owned by a real estate mogul who owned most of the buildings on the square but moved several states away decades ago and left the properties to rot, he died a while back and his children sold the properties off so things started opening and the roll is just… still there lol I have no clue if it’s art, if it’s a joke, or if it’s real and decades of the elements just petrified it or something, the rumor around town when I was in elementary school was the building previously in that spot (there’s a parking lot below frame now) burned down but the toilet paper roll survived and will be there until the end of time.

That’s entirely fair! The stop sign and street definitely adds to the liminality in that one.

I’d argue they can be if they seem a bit more surreal or dream-like, one of the more popular liminal space images that I know of is a landscape but I also understand the argument against it.

My girlfriend thinks I’m crazy for liking brutalist architecture and long stretches of open highway, but I can’t help it, the concrete look and utilitarian designs just scratch an itch in my brain lol

Even I didn’t notice it until I read this and now my disappointment in my own work is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

Thanks! Bebop’s one of my favorite shows, and I love the jazz aesthetic so that’s a huge compliment, I appreciate it!

Actually this was taken pretty late at the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO. It looks a bit less liminal and backroomy during the day but with the lights lowered and no one around it looks really cool, this was around 11pm or so I think.

Not at the moment, or if I do the account is so old I don’t remember it lol

Oh wow, thanks! I’m glad you like the photo, It’s actually my home screen at the moment as well! Lol

Oh no I totally get that! I just meant when I’m going for an older feeling photo with a bit of nostalgia factor to it I’ve found that using real film gets the look that I’m going for better, I should’ve been more specific. It’s all subjective really but I’ve also taken thousands of photos on different digital cameras and smartphones as well, they’re objectively cheaper and more convenient for sure, but I don’t think one is better or worse than the other.

I agree, I’ve previously dabbled around with adding grain digitally, if you look at my post history you’ll see a picture from Las Vegas a few years back that I went waaay overboard with unfortunately, though at the time I’d been using Lightroom for only about a week or so. I definitely have room to improve but I’ve found using real film and then adjusting colors, contrast, etc. In post results in a much nicer picture, albeit quite a lot more expensive to produce lol

Thanks! It was incredible in person, though a bit hazy due to the nearby wildfire smoke at the time this was taken in the summer of 2021. Made the farther reaches of the canyon hard to see, I think it’s actually a bit clearer in this photo than I remember it looking person.

Huh, that’s odd but I think I may know where the discrepancy is coming from. When Charles originally took the photo in the '96 he licensed it out under the stockphoto company Westlight. Westlight was purchased by another photo company that was owned by Microsoft, Corbis in 1998. Technically Microsoft could have just licensed the photo as they now owned the company that owned the licensing, but chose to fully buy the rights directly from Charles so they could have unlimited use for it with all the branding for xp outside of just the default wallpaper.

I actually named it Bucolic as a nod to Windows XP! The original name of the Bliss wallpaper was “Bucolic Green Hills” before Microsoft bought it from the photographer.

The Yellowstone River Overlook in Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park, WY.

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