Category Archives: architecture

church

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Another view of this church, taken on the same day, over a year and a half ago.

I just went by this place at Christmas, and it looked about the same. Maybe a few more shingles have blown away, and perhaps the building’s succumbed to gravity just a tiny bit more. But, mostly – the same.

Only this happened, and it’s not the first time: scenes that I’ve photographed always seem much smaller when I see them again. What’s with that? Also this: I shoot in color and convert to monochrome. But once I’ve converted a photo, I have very little (or no) memory of what the colors used to be.

(My mind: it’s scary in here.)

Young County, Texas
photographed 5.27.2012

It doesn’t look all that cozy to me….

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…but it is quaint, with the old sign and the rock buildings.

I think the cottages at the Cozy Court are apartments, but there’s not too much (or any) information readily available. My attention span, in other words, was shorter than the search. Maybe my Research Department can find out?

Alpine, Texas
photographed 8.17.2013

It all blends together, eventually

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This was a nice find as we drove through Seymour. At least I thought so; the nearby dog took exception to my being there and barked non-stop.

This is the back wall of a long-abandoned gas station, the old-time kind with a service bay. What caught my eye here was the way that all the different things – stucco wall, electric meter, weeds – have started to take on the same sort of texture, blending their colors together in a shade we could call Decline.

Seymour, Texas
photographed 12.25.2013

Water Gardens

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So, this place.  The Fort Worth Water Gardens.  It was designed in the 1970s by famed architect Philip Johnson, and is in a style called “brutalism.”  From the looks of the place, I’d say “brutalism” involves lots and lots of exposed aggregate concrete.

The gardens have three separate water features – an active pool (which was the site of a tragic multiple drowning in 1984), an aeration pool, and a meditation pool.  This picture was taken beside the meditation pool.

All three fountain areas are interesting to visit (though it was hard to put the memories of the drownings out of my head at the active pool) – they were designed to give visitors different experiences at each location. While I didn’t necessarily stop and meditate at the meditation pool, it was a very calm place to sit in the warm winter sun for a few minutes. Until I saw some other things to photograph….

Fort Worth, Texas
photographed 12.26.2013

Shadows on a distant wall

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My cat, Balboa, gets credit here: if she hadn’t needed to go to the vet, I wouldn’t have driven by this vacant place and noticed what the low winter sunlight did to the dusty windows. And I wouldn’t have gone back a few days later to see what else was there.

It was a good find, and you’ll see more of this place. But for today, check out the way the peeling letters (that used to say “Sexton Automotive”) cast a shadow on that far wall.

Lubbock, Texas
photographed 12.24.2013

PS: Balboa is fine. She just needed shots. The vet called her a “big girl” which is a LOT nicer than saying she’s fat, right?