All in Architecture

Lake Point Tower

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I went out this afternoon looking for a pair of shoes.  I decided to travel light, so I took my Leica M with the 12mm Voightlander wide angle lenses mounted, with a 28mm and a 90mm lenses in a small bag.  12mm equals insanity.  You either have to be extremely close or the object needs to be very large--although I did find an exception to that rule.  By day's end, I had some nice photographs, but no shoes.

Sunset at Lincoln Park

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Richard Misrach is one of my favorite photographers.  He undertook a three-year project in which he photographed the Golden Gate Bridge from the same vantage point from his front porch, located somewhere in the vicinity of Berkley.  Misrach was demonstrating that photography is often more about the light and the weather conditions than the specific subject matter.

Fermi Labs

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Fermi Labs is located in Batavia, Illinois, about 40 miles west of Chicago.  Sited on prairie land, the lab explores the "mysteries of matter, energy, space, and time," putting it in the same business as the late Leon Russell, who was the Master of Space and Time.  And you know, there isn't really much difference between physics and music, its all about gaps in space, timing, acceleration, and deceleration.  

 

Reflected

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The sun continued to burn with intensity as the afternoon turned into twilight, spaying the the Chicago River with intense light.  It was so intense that it lit the underside of the bridges, which is what caught my attention.  You gotta love the clouds and that deep blue sky.  

Lamposts

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The afternoon light was magnificent.  The shadows finally came out after almost 10 days of unrelenting gray and white skies, with lots of fog and rain.  What can you say?  It's a geometric progression on the Chicago River.  Simple, but powerful.

Balmy

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Not exactly the sunniest day, but pretty good considering that the Tribune 10-day forecast predicted clouds and rain for the next ten days.  When I left the house, the temperature was in the mid-60s.

Goethe Statue and Meis

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I am not a big fan of photographs that feature statues, particularly of historical figures in representational style.  Yet, I have always enjoyed the superhuman statue honoring the German philosopher and writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) that sits at the north end of Lincoln Park, with two Mies van der Rohe apartments serving as the backdrop.

Puff

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I thought I might go to a jazz concert tonight, but I didn't have the energy, so I hopped on the 151 and headed to North Pond.  I took 68 exposures over a 2 hour period without once moving my tripod.  This is the second to the last photograph of the session.

 

Soon

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Soon the leaves will return to the trees, which will make this a particularly interesting scene for infrared film.  Shot from the bridge over the lagoon just southeast of Cafe Brauer, this photograph is pretty standard fare for me.

Finally

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March 13, 2017.  Chicago had its first snowstorm of 2017.  Up until today, there hadn't even been a flurry.  Unfortunately, the storm was relatively minor, dropping somewhere between 6" and 12" inches.  By rush hour, the roads were clear, but the clouds still blanketed the sky with white.  No contrast and no falling snow:  The city just doesn't look that great, which is why I headed to Lincoln Park.

Streaks

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"Streaks" is today's world.  The sky had some interesting dark streaks running through it.  This is most pronounced in the space between the Wrigley Building and Trump Tower, but the upper sky also had dark streaks.  Unfortunately my sensor had streaks of dust--not just spots--so it took some effort to remove the spots and streaks.

Allerton

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The Allerton Hotel was originally a men's club with hotel facilities when it opened in 1924.  It is noted for its set backs, which served as inspiration for many of the other taller buildings subsequently erected throughout the Chicago downtown area.  The building's price tag came in at $4 million

Wrigleyville

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Sunday afternoon, and this beer bottle is still so nicely balanced on the fire hydrant on Clark Street just a block south of Wrigley Field.  I can only wonder if the person who put it there--presumably late on Saturday night or early Sunday morning--was as equally well-balanced.

 

Bahá’í Temple

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I find the Bahá’í House of Worship for North America to be both at odds and complementary to its surrounding.  Visually, it fits nicely into the neighborhood, sitting on a bend in the road and at the inland start of a harbor.  Yet, Wilmette is a plain vanilla suburb, albeit it wealthyYou just don't expect to find a house worship of a religion that originated in Tehran in the mid-19th Century in a Midwestern suburb.

301 Taylor Street

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Nothing like standing in urine when making a photograph.  It apparently had dried, but the smell was quite pungent.  Before I set up my tripod, I looked for feces, which has been here in the pastI am standing on a bridge, with the tender's station building.  It is possible to walk behind the station, providing a sheltered observation post, which is why I think it serves as public toliet.

Violet

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This is a photograph that proves it is worth waiting for the right sunset, which could be tomorrow, next week, or in a month.  I am reminded of the series of photographs that Richard Misrach made of the Golden Gate Bridge over the course of one year, if I recall correctly.