The utility pole
is to me an iconic, archaic part of the industrial landscape. Like light bulbs, they seem strangely outdated, but at the same time they are so ubiquitous that we don't consciously notice them. I always think of them as enormous sticks with IV lines feeding into homes. New developments frequently have power lines buried, but the cost to replace the entire infrastructure would be prohibitive, so I think they might be around for another hundred years. Photographers often try to avoid them when composing an image, or retouch them out in the 'darkroom', but others include them as integral parts of an image. Below is an old postcard that features utility poles very prominently.