Rhonda's 591Space presents: A House Full of Emptiness by Wallace Rollins

I have enjoyed the photos of Wallace Rollins for a long time. The first picture I saw of his was from a series of photographs of the interior of an empty house in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. I asked him if I could post them here as part of my space...I've added the lyrics of a Tom Waits' song, House Where Nobody Lives because I think they fit together beautifully.

There's a house on my block
That's abandoned and cold
Folks moved out of it a
Long time ago
And they took all their things
And they never came back
Looks like it's haunted
With the windows all cracked
And everyone calls it
The house, the house where
Nobody lives


Once it held laughter
Once it held dreams
Did they throw it away
Did they know what it means
Did someone's heart break
Or did someone do somebody wrong?



Well the paint was all cracked
It was peeled off of the wood
Papers were stacked on the porch
Where I stood
And the weeds had grown up
Just as high as the door


There were birds in the chimney
And an old chest of drawers
Looks like no one will ever
Come back to the
House were nobody lives


Once it held laughter
Once it held dreams
Did they throw it away
Did they know what it means
Did someone's heart break
Or did someone do someone wrong?
So if you find someone
Someone to have, someone to hold
Don't trade it for silver
Don't trade it for gold



I have all of life's treasures
And they are fine and they are good
They remind me that houses
Are just made of wood
What makes a house grand
Ain't the roof or the doors
If there's love in a house
It's a palace for sure



Without love...
It ain't nothin but a house
A house where nobody lives
Without love it ain't nothin
But a house, a house where
Nobody lives.


All photos © Wallace Rollins
To see more of Wallace's pictures, look here

Comments

Jan Buse said…
Love this, great photography.
Oskarp Mask said…
What a wonderful blog entry! A really moving combination of the photographer's nostalgia and Tom Waits' poetry. Thank you.
Anonymous said…
It is a wonderful post Rhonda. It takes my breath away - the words, the excellent photographs. Many thanks to you and Wallace for sharing this.
br said…
yes, beautiful work and thanks for posting it.
Anonymous said…
such a beautiful matching!
Unknown said…
So great and so interesting!
Anonymous said…
Oh....make me feel lonely....!

tatiana
Anonymous said…
That's my big bro!!
GC said…
fabulous images and words...