Loose Associations

.

Readers of this blog know that I formerly used the nickname Strangetastes. I also considered Loose Associations. That's a psychological term describing a thought disorder in which a person's statements do not relate to a question asked, or when statements do not logically relate to what was expressed before of after.The phrase has another, more positive sense, in which an individual sees meaningful relations among things that are not obvious, that are subtle or unnoticed by others. To me, the second meaning is a badge of honor.

Yesterday, I wrote about how these HDR pictures remind me of the work of painter Richard Estes. While I was working on this one, another association hit me. It has the feel of the work of another American artist, Edward Hopper (Google Images of his work here). Hopper, who lived from 1882 to 1967, depicted quiet, sometimes lonely landscapes, small towns, big cities and intimate interiors. His most famous painting is Nighthawks, which you can see in the Art Institute of Chicago. He loved oranges and reds in urban settings but skillfully kept them from shouting. Look at some of Hopper's work and tell us if you see a connection.

This picture is in the old commercial area south of the Arch. I was shooting under an elevated section of Interstate highway. The bridge at the upper left carries trains over the Mississippi to Illinois and beyond.

WHAT I'M DONE WITH FOR THE YEAR: no more hearings, no more court appearances. Lots of stuff to do but the big pressure is off for a couple of weeks.

TOMORROW: this could go a couple of ways: 1. More downtown HDR. An insane, four meter tall dancing bunny statue? An oversaturated redbird under lunar influence? Or, 2. Tonight is our little law firm's holiday dinner party. I am both the boss and the house photographer. Perhaps there may be a shot of paralegals behaving badly.