A few more weeks of Thursday Arch pictures in color. I'd like to think of this one as an emergency exit from the earth to the part of the sky the Arch lives in. Thanks to the school bus driver for creating such a great chromatic effect.
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY: Two pictures with horses in them. From me, a city boy.
Forest Park is the great green space of St. Louis. It's considerably larger than Central Park in NYC or Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The 1904 World's Fair was held there (Meet me in St. Louie, Louie, meet me at the fair...).The park is criss-crossed by bike and running paths. This rollerblader is gliding uphill on the long straightaway along Skinker Boulevard, the park's western edge.
TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series (another in color)
Kiener Plaza, a couple of blocks from my office downtown, has a small amphitheater sunken below street level. Last Saturday a Christian rock band was on the stage, filling the area with sound. It was probably due to the sound system, but I couldn't understand the lyrics. There was little audience, except for the occasional dog walker and photographer.
TOMORROW: Blade Runner (change of plans), concluding Black And White Week,
Laumeier has one knockout piece after another. I wish their web site had more detail about the sculptors and the names of the works. (See post of May 18.) This picture was also taken at the big Mother's Day weekend art fair. The scale of the piece can be seen from the people at the bottom, sitting at tables and having a snack. You can see the details of the photo more clearly if you click on it to see a bigger size.
TOMORROW: Black and White Week Continues - A Skeptic
I apologize for the dreadful pun in the title of this post. Two big stone bears guard the entrance to the old Kiel Opera House on Market Street downtown. This link shows several different views and gives a bit of history. It was a venue for Broadway shows, touring musical acts, the St. Louis Symphony before they moved to their current home in the 60s and even the odd opera. It has been empty for a number of years. There's talk about redevelopment but nothing has gone forward.
Canon 5D, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM at 47 mm, ISO 800, f 22, 1/80 sec. TOMORROW: Black and White Week Continues - Steel, Art and a Snack.
Richard Serra's massive sculpture Twain occupies a full block of lawn on the east side of the Civil Courts Building (see May 16 post). It consists of eight oxidizing steel plates, about 3 m tall, arranged roughly in a triangle. The work is not so much about these metal slabs as the city you see through and over the gaps, how it feels in the strange space inside. I think it's fascinating.Lots of people thought much the opposite when it was installed 25 years ago (although it is simply accepted now). It was called an ugly pile of rust. A bill was introduced in the Board of Aldermen to remove it. It failed, unlike the effort to destroy Serra's Tilted Arc in lower Manhattan. Twain is difficult to photograph. You can view only incomplete segments from ground level (and perhaps that was part of Serra's plan). The only way to view the whole thing is from above, up in an office building. Photos of some other views can be seen in the first link above.TOMORROW: Black and White Week Continues - Bear Market
A little tale about American urban decay and rebirth: in the 1980s, the city authorities and private developers planned and built St. Louis Centre, which at the time was the largest downtown shopping mall in the U.S. It was a big hit at first but then withered. If you are interested in the whole story, take a look at the fascinating but somewhat morbid site deadmalls.com. Some pictures of the structure are here.
The place became nearly vacant. The remaining tenants were mostly bottom-of-the barrel. This picture, taken about two years ago, is a window of a ground floor corner space, which was then occupied by an unappealing fried chicken and fish joint.
The Centre closed in 2006. However, it has been bought by St. Louis premier redeveloper, Pyramid Architects, which is transforming it into ground floor retail with luxury condominiums above. It will add to the resurgence of population downtown.
Tomorrow: Black and White Week Continues - Twain (not Mark)
Forest Park is the great green space of St. Louis. It's considerably larger than Central Park in NYC or Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The 1904 World's Fair was held there (Meet me in St. Louie, Louie, meet me at the fair...).The park is criss-crossed by bike and running paths. This rollerblader is gliding uphill on the long straightaway along Skinker Boulevard, the park's western edge. 
Laumeier has one knockout piece after another. I wish their web site had more detail about the sculptors and the names of the works. (See post of May 18.) This picture was also taken at the big Mother's Day weekend art fair. The scale of the piece can be seen from the people at the bottom, sitting at tables and having a snack. You can see the details of the photo more clearly if you click on it to see a bigger size.
A little tale about American urban decay and rebirth: in the 1980s, the city authorities and private developers planned and built St. Louis Centre, which at the time was the largest downtown shopping mall in the U.S. It was a big hit at first but then withered. If you are interested in the whole story, take a look at the fascinating but somewhat morbid site deadmalls.com. Some pictures of the structure are here.
