"Birdsboro", a 20x24 B/W Silver Gelatin Photograph was taken by Industrial and Architectural Photographer Carol M. Front at the Birdsboro Steel Foundry and Machine Company shortly before the abandoned mill was demolished. This building was the oldest building on the property, dating back to the late 19th century. The entire supporting framework that is visible here was built with Cuban Mahogany and at the time of demolition many contractors and interior decorators from NY City were bidding to buy the wood for interiors at upscale city sites. The company's history began in 1740 as one of the first two iron forges in the state of Pennsylvania. I was glad to have been able to photograph it before it disappeared.

Carol Front's black and white photographs encompass both the extant and abandoned industrial landscapes of America in a portfolio she has titled "Industrial Arcadia." Her photographs are at once dramatic and haunting; they are machines bereft of workforce, gloves without owners, and cathedrals of commerce minus congregations. These quietly forceful photographs depict industry as fine art. Graduating with an art degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and having done her master's studies in photography at Columbia College in Chicago, Carol has exhibited her photographs in a solo show at the Allentown Art Museum, 2003. Her works are held by numerous institutions, including; the Allentown Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the State Museum of Pennsylvania, as well as by many private collectors. An upcoming solo show at the Bonsack Gallery in St. Louis is slated for February of 2007

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