Eastside Baptist Church

The Eastside Baptist Church located at 2519 E Preston St, Baltimore, Maryland 21213 was founded in 1958 by the late Rev. Collins C. Alexander – who died in 1996. He was pastor of the church until the time of his death. Despite its history, the church is currently for up for sale. I photographed the church for Realtor©, Darrin Jones. For the shoot, I had a set of shots that I took for the listing, but it also afforded me the opportunity to take s some for myself.

Abandoned Building

I enjoy shooting abandoned buildings, rusted objects, and things that once had a purpose that has expired. The Eastside Baptist Church did not disappoint. It has been left as it was on its last day of occupancy. There are fans and hymnals left in the pocket in the back of the pews. The chalkboard in the school section still has the last lessons written on the chalkboard. In the vestibule is a bulletin board pinned with yellowing news clippings and black and white photos. All of these things were of interest to me as I walked around the decaying house of worship.

Selected Shots

I shot the outside of the church. The weather was overcast with little to no clouds. So, the outside shots didn’t thrill me. After getting those shots, we went inside. This for me was the favorite part of the shoot. Inside provided so many shot opportunities. Churches have a lot of symmetry – which makes for some good images. The addition of broken windows and peeling paint sparked my creativity. The above are the images I made from inside the church.