"Bowl For Health", Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA, 2007. (fedia.io)

submitted 1 month ago by mattblaze@federate.social to c/photography@fedia.io

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"Bowl For Health", Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA, 2007.

Government-issue pixels at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/2123765265

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[-] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 month ago

This was captured with a BetterLight scanning digital back and Nikkor 90mm lens on a Sinar P 4x5 camera.

This now-demolished bowling alley was part of the Treasure Island Naval Station, closed about 15 years earlier and then just starting to be redeveloped (a process that's been slowed by serious environmental contamination).

The composition emphasizes the simple lines of the structure and the isolated, rather desolate setting.

[-] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 month ago

San Francisco's Treasure Island is a weird place. An artificial island built adjacent to Yerba Buena Island in the middle of the Bay Bridge, it initially hosted the 1939 World's fair, with plans to then use it for the city's main airport. At the start of WW II, the US government appropriated it for use as a Naval station. After the Cold War, the government returned the island to the city. It was extensively contaminated by radioactive waste from decontamination training conducted on the island.

[-] jpsays@mastodon.social 1 points 1 month ago

@mattblaze@federate.social With Palm Trees. :) (and bay views)

[-] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 month ago

By now many, though not all, of the structures from the island's military era have been demolished (including the bowling alley in the photo). Environmental remediation is proceeding slowly.

A small community of mostly low-income families live in the island's housing, and some of the larger buildings are used as sound stages for film production and related industries.

[-] Hasufin@mastodon.social 1 points 1 month ago

@mattblaze@federate.social I was only there once, for the flea market, but of course everyone in the East Bay goes by it going into SF.

[-] keithpjolley@discuss.systems 1 points 1 month ago

@mattblaze@federate.social disembowled.

[-] CStamp@mastodon.social 1 points 1 month ago

@mattblaze@federate.social "A small community of mostly low-income families live in the island's housing," I hope this means the contamination is cleaned up.

[-] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 month ago

@CStamp@mastodon.social sadly, it was more like, “don’t plant any vegetables or go in any fenced off areas. Good luck”.

[-] crawshaw@inuh.net 1 points 1 month ago

@mattblaze@federate.social have you been out there recently? It’s now mostly a construction site for ~10 story apartment buildings and is trying to go up market. (It actually looks pretty good.)

[-] mattblaze@federate.social 0 points 1 month ago

@crawshaw So isolated though.

[-] crawshaw@inuh.net 1 points 1 month ago

@mattblaze@federate.social agreed, it needs some commercial space to bring it to life. The tiny ferry from sf is fast and fun, maybe there’s an opportunity to build things that are too expensive for SF proper.

[-] quinn@social.circl.lu 1 points 1 month ago

@mattblaze@federate.social it used to not be so low income, i knew a few people who lived out there many years ago, but as they started remediating it became obvious that it was a dangerous place to live, and then men in bunny suits might show up and tell you not to dig in your garden. and so, it became poor and black because that's still how america do. bowl for health indeed.

[-] mattblaze@federate.social 0 points 1 month ago

@quinn The Bay Area has a remarkable density of former WWII-era military bases that turned out to be radioactive.

[-] quinn@social.circl.lu 1 points 1 month ago

@mattblaze@federate.social and chip fab lands that are incredibly carcinogenic. it is unironically one of the most dangerously polluted places on earth, but it's actually manageable. as long as the water table never rises.

this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2024

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