DOWNTOWN ABSTRACT 2

The roof of a multi-level garage, looking down from my high-rise perch. Since the post-Covid reduction in downtown office occupancy, there are rarely any cars unless there is a busy baseball game across the street. Plenty of room for someone to spin wheelies.                    

NOTHING GOING ON

Again, looking down from the Three Sixty rooftop bar and restaurant. Downtown St. Louis hasn't worn particularly well since I first went to work there in 1974. The pandemic hit it hard. Office and storefront occupancy remain depressed. On a weekday evening when there is no sporting event or activity at the convention center this full-block garage looked nearly empty.           

NOT NEEDED

Central St. Louis isn't exactly a ghost town these days but it is awfully quiet. The banks, law firms and government offices are mostly on work-from-home. About a quarter of my office building is occupied by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, whose headquarters is next door. Not a soul in there. I rarely see another person on the elevators, which is fine with me.

This is the garage in our building's basement. It's so empty you could turn it into a massive laser tag field. I rather like the solitude, just me and my Honda.        

Sundial

.

Late afternoon, looking straight down from my office window at the garage next door. This was taken on our Presidents Day holiday when downtown was quiet. Our city center doesn't have the density and fizz I'd like from an urban core but it tries real hard.

There is a goofy downtown event today that I hope to shoot. Evidence tomorrow.

Resistance Is Futile

.

Don't struggle. You're being sucked in. Nothing in there will harm you. Ha ha ha ha ha. It's only the Arch garage.

.

Winter Looking Down, Part 1

.

This is the first of a short series of photos taken on a cold Sunday from the windows of our office in downtown St. Louis. This garage is immediately beneath my own office. Its simple geometry has been on the blog once before on a warmer day. Click here.

WHAT IT WAS LIKE IN ST. LOUIS THURSDAY: miserable. Sleet and snow, 20 F/-7 C, increasing fog. I sent my staff home early do they could do their driving before dark. But, hey, it's winter and it's worse north of here.

TOMORROW: winter looking down, part 2

Upper Deck

.
The view straight down from my office window to the top level of a big garage, about 18 floors down.

WHAT BLOGS I'M RECOMMENDING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS: Strobist, the bottomless font of knowledge for those of us who use small flashes rather than studio lights - more possibilities than you ever imagined. They had a feature a couple of days ago about Drew Gardner, a photographer of enormous creativity, humor and technical skill. He's started a blog, Photography - The Dark Art. Check out his professional web site, too. You will enjoy it. I met Gardner a few summers back at the Maine Photography Workshops and have enjoyed his work ever since.

TOMORROW: patterns on the wall.

THERE IS A NEW POST TODAY ON GATEWAY, MY PHOTOBLOG ABOUT THE ST. LOUIS ARCH