brought to you by Bethlehem Steel

October 12, 2016 10:08 PM

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- photographs of corrosion by Alyssha Eve Csük

Photographer Alyssha Eve Csuk turns industrial ruins into abstract landscapes at the Bethlehem Steel mills. After redevelopment as a casino, only the furnaces are left.

In the end, everything rusts.

posted by the man of twists and turns (12 comments total)

No, that's ok, I didn't want control of my back button anyway.

These are really pretty.
posted by humboldt32 at 10:27 PM on October 12, 2016 [5 favorites]

Photographers always have the worst web experiences.

Great content, though.
posted by keep_evolving at 10:31 PM on October 12, 2016 [6 favorites]

non-Flash version of the site.
posted by ardgedee at 2:20 AM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

In the lower halls of the School of Engineering at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, I saw jars of iron in stages of rust dating back decades. I don't know if they're still there. UT@Knoxville also has a helluva program in forensic anthropology-- The Body Farm.
posted by lazycomputerkids at 2:49 AM on October 13, 2016

Can't get any pictures to load on my mobile from either version of the site. Argh!

Csük and her steel project were profiled in Rust: The Longest War which was a good read.
posted by Western Infidels at 4:30 AM on October 13, 2016

Those are wonderful photographs. Rust never sleeps, indeed!
posted by TedW at 5:12 AM on October 13, 2016

Beautiful photos, thanks for the post.

I took this photo last night, of an old copper-clad board that I'd forgotten in a ferric chloride tub for about a year. Colours are a bit over-saturated because that's a thing my phone's camera does, but even in real life it looked fantastic. Lacks the pathos of seeing real-world structures in their natural decay, of course.
posted by metaBugs at 5:50 AM on October 13, 2016 [4 favorites]

Ruin porn in close-ups! Nice.
posted by kozad at 7:59 AM on October 13, 2016

I grew up in Buffalo and always heard about the Bethlehem Steel Mill but never knew much about it. I especially didn't know that they were used to make uranium fuel rods. (This is despite knowing tons about Love Canal and other environmental justice issues in the area.) Thanks for this post!
posted by misskaz at 8:06 AM on October 13, 2016

This is gorgeous work and the printed works are treated the way I'd expect also. Pity about the bad UX but it's a common flaw.

If you like this sort of thing you may also enjoy David Maisel's Library of Dust (previously) which is also a beautiful oversize format monograph.
posted by a halcyon day at 8:36 AM on October 13, 2016

These are beautiful! I grew up near Bethlehem during the declining years of Bethlehem Steel and have not had much reason to think about beauty at the plant before now.
posted by jessypie at 1:56 PM on October 13, 2016

Bethlehem is such a great town. I grew up near there. I love how they embrace the past - reminders of the steel mill are everywhere.
posted by caterpilla at 2:22 PM on October 15, 2016