Blog Archives
An early alley
It’s hard to believe it’s been almost four years since I took this photo.
I’d gone to Abilene, Texas, for the weekend to meet up with a friend. After she headed back home I stuck around town for a while and took some photographs. This was before I’d figured out the wealth of interesting things a photographer can see in downtown alleys, so I only took a few shots. Now, of course, I’d take a few dozen shots. Per block.
But maybe this is where I started figuring out about alleys….
Abilene, Texas
photographed 4.3.2010
Reserved Parking
There’s just not that much going on in town. But if you’ve got a handicapped parking permit, you can at least count on being able to park right in front of this vacant building.
That’s pretty helpful, I guess.
(Don’t get me wrong: when I take my dad places, I have a handicapped parking permit. You’d be surprised, though, at the number of times that we can’t use it, because the designated handicapped spaces are already full. Also, the Americans with Disabilities Act requires tactile surfaces on ramps; these are usually truncated cones cast in the concrete. I understand why they help visually impaired persons know they are on a ramp. But for 90-year-old men with walkers, these tactile surfaces are virtually impassable, and are quite annoying. In case you were wondering my opinion on the matter.)
Liberty Hill, Texas
photographed 3.9.2013
It was one of those days
There are days when every single thing I see seems like it ought to be a photograph. Those days can be mentally exhausting. But they can be – and usually are – exhilarating. Those are the days when I just know that this is what I am supposed to be doing: wandering around, taking pictures.
This day was one of those days: this is the 12th picture I’ve posted that I took on August 16. And there’s surely more to come. August 16 was a very, very good day.
Marfa, Texas
photographed 8.16.2013
I’m guessing the reclamation isn’t complete
The other side of this building, which has that nice banner announcing Reclaim Colorado City. Good that the city’s started the effort, but there’s still a ways to go.
But, to be slightly selfish for a minute, I don’t mind the disrepair one bit: it makes for much more interesting photographs.
Colorado City, Texas
photographed 3.13.2013
One detail spoiled everything
You knew this: that I almost never take photos of new buildings. I like old ones better.
But, when you are walking around downtown Dallas with your friend (we’ll call him “Carlos” but only because that’s his name), there’s a lot more new stuff to look at than anything else.
This place, then. I am very fond of the glass blocks, lined up like huge ice cubes. I like the way the light reflects off the column on the right into the window, making a lighter rectangle on top of everything. I like the long shadow, the way it angles down, goes straight across the wall, and then angles down again; that’s a very nice shadow line.
But what I saw when I took the picture and can’t bring myself to un-see is that duplex outlet, right there in plain sight. Why, architect of this building, did you let that happen? I want to believe that you knew how that reflected light would work, how the shadow’s angles would be so appealing, that you’d thought about all of it and made very sound design decisions. But a wall outlet? That was the very best place to put an outlet? You’re sure, architect of this building?
Dallas, Texas
photographed 3.19.2011
