a Photo Blog, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to dear dirty New York
We took a walk around the Central Park Reservoir with the light just perfect so I shot an in-camera sweep panorama looking towards the East-Southeast. Then, after about a 3/4 circuit, another shot of the southern park skyline with the impudent new needle-nose skyscrapers giving us the finger, below.
More than the art in the sole, hallway exhibition mentioned in yesterday’s post, was the architecture of the Chicago Cultural Center which was quite ornate. Click on any of the pictures below to see them all larger.
Whilst still on the tour, we passed beneath one of the many bridges traversing the Chicago River.
After seeing the glass and steel architecture up close on the Chicago River, our tour boat pulled out into Lake Michigan to provide sightseers the opportunity to snap views of the skyline. Click on any of the pictures below to see them all bigger.
We went on a touristy architectural boat tour of Chicago focused mostly on the big glass and steel towers of downtown. I think because glass reflects its surroundings, it’s an easy way for an architect to say their building fits in its environment. Click on any of the images below to see them all enlarged.
On an initial walk downtown, I was on the lookout for backgrounds for my Word project among Chicago’s skyscrapers. I found quite a few candidates, if no winners. Click any picture below to see them all full sized (if viewing in email you may need to click the post title above first to go to the web site).
After a day and a half in New York, we moved on to Chicago, to visit my daughter and one of my sons and his wife.
Another image from September 2007. The Ariel East and Ariel West were 2 brand new skyscraper apartment buildings that went up across Broadway from one another causing some controversy at the time, with posters decrying the “monsters in our midst.”
Out for a walk with our US guests I was struck by the spire of the local church against the dramatic sky.
We had visitors from the US staying with us in the middle of August so we walked up to Farnham Castle again. Ever since the Magritte Museum in Brussels, I’ve been photographing sky through windows and over rooftops.
This is a slightly disorienting view but it’s no more than the view from the top of a staircase, showing 2 stories of this local gallery.
Most of the University is off limits to students over the summer bu the library is still open. Leaving it one cloudy day I saw this shot of the dramatic sky through a kind of skylit walkway with the actual sky above and quickly grabbed a couple of shots. I then walked through the quad and saw another, kind of ominous view, below.
We took a bus from the area of our hotel to the Gare du Nord to catch the EuroStar back to London. Click any of the images below to see them full-sized (you may need to click the post title first if you’re viewing this in an email or on social media).
We also walked the length of La Petite Ceinture, a disused ancient railway line that has been transformed into a park. I had been hoping that it would be a little like the High Line in NY, affording me elevated views of the surrounding area but it was really the opposite, sunken and surrounded by tall trees, dark and lovely. Click any of the pictures below to enlarge them all.
Once again, I focused my lens more on the architecture, the geometry, the sub-text of this hallowed space. Click any of the pictures below to see them full-sized.
Edinburgh, Scotland
The National Museum of Scotland has a roof garden with tremendous views. Above an in camera sweep panorama that covers only about 180º of the view. Below, a series of shots that will show some of the views a little closer. Click on any of them to see them larger.
Our last morning we toured the National Museum of Scotland. Naturally, most of my photographs were about the geometry of the space and less about the exhibits themselves. As ever, click on any of the pictures below to see them at full size (clicking the post title first if that doesn’t work for you in email or on social media).
After the Parliament we continued our stroll through Edinburgh, eventually returning to our hotel. Click any of the pictures below to see them all bigger (remembering you may have to click the post title first if you’re seeing this in an email or via social media).
