This morning, I returned to the same garish store front seen in yesterday's photo to take this image of the remains of a pay-phone still somewhat attached to the building. There are numerous phone stands like this one, almost all of which are in various stages of decay. I've only seen a few that still have a phone attached, and it's doubtful if any of them still function. In the age of cell phones, outdoor pay phones now border on extinction. Interestingly, these small phone enclosures were relatively new when the first mobile phones appeared as harbingers of their impending doom. They replaced the larger phone booths we all remember from our youth, but with virtually everyone sporting cell phones, the need for these relics has all but disappeared.
The sign in the window is as antiquated as the phone booth. It's a campaign poster for John Lombardi who ran for Mayor of Providence in the 2010 Democratic Primary, losing to the eventual Mayor, Angel Taveras. He earned only 29% of the vote to Taveras' 48%. Lombardi does hold a spot in Rhode Island lore, however. He was President of the Providence City Council in 2001 when Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci was convicted of Racketeering Conspiracy (running a corrupt criminal enterprise) and served as acting mayor for four months. In 2012, Lombardi was elected to the Rhode Island State Legislature.
Post processing was more challenging than expected. While composing the shot, I planned to process this as a black and white, however I underestimated the muddy light grey tone the fluorescent yellow paint on the building would produce. Much of the processing was spent darkening the yellow tone to produce a more pleasing shade of grey. I started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX and then heavily adjusted the color sensitivity sliders. I adjusted adaptive exposure and regions, almost to their maximum values. Contrast, details, and protect highlights were also heavily adjusted. A more gentle touch was applied to boost black and boost white. A brightness, contrast, and levels adjustment was added in PSE followed by a sepia photo filter.
