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In the middle of the complex junction of two main highways, the city erected this steel sculpture. It's bright red and perhaps 10 meters tall. Cars whizzing by get only a glance. You can walk to it but few people would have any reason to be walking in the area. I can't find anything online that identifies it. The site contained this work until a few months ago, which was even harder to see. As some highway construction signs say, your tax dollars at work.
For the locals, this is in the I 44 - I 55 interchange, south of Lafayette Avenue.
WHAT FELL INTO MY POCKET TODAY: an iPhone. Woo hoo, new toy.
TOMORROW: a grand old building across the street (imitation Andreas Gursky shot).
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Like these models of old-fashioned pin boys who vanished with changing times, the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame has slipped into our city's past. If it interests you, go look it up in Texas in a couple of years. Everything is bigger in Texas.WHAT THERE IS TO SHOOT IN ST. LOUIS THIS WEEKEND: nothing that I know of. Better put my thinking cap on. TOMORROW: upper deck. 
A picture to root the Arch in its setting: a curved line of trees, a few visitors and a traffic light in silhouette standing guard.
TOMORROW: Stencils as street art
Shot with a telephoto lens from some distance away, just for a sense of scale.
Got some good pix in Miami Beach today. Probably some of this tomorrow.
TOMORROW: South Beach
Back to a more austere style of Arch photo, setting off straight lines against its great curve. The shadow on the right side of the stairs is from the Arch's south leg. The monument seems to dwarf other downtown structures. In fact, the largest building of the group with a bit of a point on top is only slightly shorter than the Arch itself.
The horror...the horror...I have a trembling fascination with Ronald McDonald as a symbol of corporate evil and greed that also happens to be cute and appealing to children. McDonald's sponsored a small blues festival in Kiener Plaza downtown after the parade and baseball game last Saturday. Even cowgirls get the blues, but I don't believe that Ronald gets the blues. I don't think he even gets the point.That evening, my wife and I went to a performance of the national touring company of The Second City, Chicago's renowned improv comedy troupe. In one of the bits, a male member of the cast came out on stage with a guitar. He started to sing a sort of folk rock song with a bitter tone. It was about how he started out on a road trip with a new girlfriend. He eventually got hungry and proposed a stop at McDonald's. The girlfriend strongly objected, going on about how she would never put that high fat, high calorie, high sodium garbage in her mouth. The young man dug in his heels, ending every verse with the refrain, F*** Y**, it's delicious! (Us ROTFL.) You pays your money and you takes your choice. But Ronald, please stay out of my nice little downtown plaza.OH, AND BY THE WAY, happy birthday to Chicago's U "R" Us, daily photo blogger and scion of the Tastes family, who's off for a really big party in New York City (my home town) tonight! He can make it there, so he can make it anywhere.
TOMORROW: Oh, what the hell, another street portrait.
If you stare up at this thing long enough you will get dizzy.
TOMORROW: Self-portrait with black sedan and convex mirror.
Self-portrait with a segment of a 192 m tall stainless steel catenary curve.
TOMORROW: *
After a year of posting weekly photos of the Arch, I sometimes feel I have nothing else to say about it. Then I go by on a Sunday afternoon and there is something a little different. In this picture, shot with a 17 mm lens, a woman takes a picture of her husband and son. The Arch is so much much taller than it looks in this shot.
TOMORROW: I have no idea but let me tell you a little story:
When I was low to middle two digits of age in New York City, the most popular kids' program on local television was the Soupy Sales Show. He at was as least as popular with high school and college students as he was with tykes. The show was on at noon on weekdays and all of us who could get to a TV tuned in for his surrealist, absurd sketches. The characters were way over the top (click here and scroll down a little). Almost every bit ended with Soupy getting a cream pie in the face. It was all done live and there are very few archives.
On January 1, 1965, Soupy was upset about about having to work the holiday. He started a crazy improv. This is how I, 14 years old atthe time, remember it:
Soupy looks into the camera and says something like, "Hey, kids, I'm starting a collection of presidential portraits! I need to get a whole set. Now, your mommy and daddy got in real late last night and I bet they're still asleep. Tiptoe into their bedroom, find daddy's wallet, look for some of those portraits of Washington and Lincoln and Jackson and Grant in it and send them to me. And if you do that, you know what I'll do for you? I'll send you a postcard from Puerto Rico!"
The station suspended Soupy for a week for that one. I remember TV news showing hundreds of college students picketing the station demanding his return.
So, here's the bottom line: I'm going to Puerto Rico today. Would you like a postcard?
My wife and I are going down for a few days for our anniversary (34th, thank you). Photos sure to follow by Saturday. Stay tuned and keep your picket signs clean.
Aerial photo of picture location, looking straight down on the top of the Arch.
This young man and a couple of friends were on the street below the Arch, taking pictures of one another in front of the monument. I wandered by with all my gear hanging off me and offered a suggestion for framing the shots better. Since all my gizmos are like the Official Photographer Badge, they were interested in discussing this and liked the results they got. They were really fun to talk to. This is one of the little tricks. If possible, don't just walk up to someone and ask if you can take their picture (you do ask permission, don't you?). Engage people in conversation about themselves. Never talk about yourself. Things warm up and you get friendly. Only at this point do you say something like, "Gee, that looks really cool. Would it be ok if I took your picture?"
You get permission a very high percentage of the time. I chatted up John from Tuesday's post by asking about his horse, then his job. I asked about his colleague I photographed last summer and we talked about her illness. By then we were very friendly and taking the picture was no problem.
By the way, I've found it very handy to carry photographer mini-cards from MOO.com. You have an assortment of your photos on one side and up to six lines of text on the other. I have my name, email address and URLs for the blog, my Flickr page and my dormant web site. I always tell people that if they email me I will send them a copy of their picture. They love that.
The guy in this picture, his friends and I had a good time together. After we were done it was handshakes all around. Like I said Tuesday, there are ways to do it. Really helps to take a class with someone experienced in approaching people in public for photos.
TOMORROW: Moolah
In the middle of the complex junction of two main highways, the city erected this steel sculpture. It's bright red and perhaps 10 meters tall. Cars whizzing by get only a glance. You can walk to it but few people would have any reason to be walking in the area. I can't find anything online that identifies it. The site contained this work until a few months ago, which was even harder to see. As some highway construction signs say, your tax dollars at work.
