SACRIFICE

Soldiers Memorial, downtown St. Louis. Is the muscle-bound horse protecting the mother and child or leaving them behind as it goes off to war? Probably the latter. I'm not sure if I think it's sincere, melodramatic or creepy. Our feelings about wars--and wars themselves--aren't the same as 85 years ago when this was built. 

CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON

As intellectually arid as it gets: sculpture in Citygarden called 2 Arcs x 4, 1999-2000, 162″ x 162″ x 29″, 230.5 Degree Arc x 5, 1999, Steel, 162″ x 162″ x 36″ by Bernar Venet. The description on the garden's website says that he "creates works based on mathematical graphs and formulas. In mathematics, Venet discovered a language of symbols that satisfied his desire to create an art that is non-expressive and not subject to personal interpretation." I think I have broad tastes in art but this is beyond what I can appreciate.

        

THERAPY ON THE CHEAP

A clothing and accessories store in midtown St. Louis. Odd statement. Dear? Is the recommended therapy to treat yourself and buy something?                     

NO LONGER SACRED

Another abandoned building in downtown St. Louis. It has an interesting history. It was a social club, then another social club, then a couple of different hotels, then a Catholic seniors' residence and chapel. https://builtstlouis.net/opos/alverne.html 

SIC TRANSIT GLORIA

This modern building in downtown St. Louis is in an approximate tie for the tallest in town and has by far the greatest amount of floor space of any in Missouri. It was once the world headquarters of AT&T. It has been completely vacant since 2014.

The anti-trust break-up of the original AT&T years ago led to the creation of regional "Baby Bells" (as in Bell Telephone). St. Louis was headquarters of Southwestern Bell. The Baby Bells started to merge with and acquire one another, with Southwestern Bell in the lead. It then bought the rights to the AT&T name and eventually moved the headquarters to San Antonio.

The building sold in 2006 for $205 million with a leaseback to the phone company. I have read that it is hard to redevelop because it was built for a single tenant. It resold last spring for $4.1 million to an ambitious but much smaller developer. There is a proposed plan to turn it into a "vertical city" with apartments, office space and a hotel. I haven't heard anything further.

As I say here from time to time, we used to be somebody.               

BENEFICIAL PHOTOBOMBING

Those of us who shoot on the street have had it happen: you get everything framed, set your exposure and someone jumps into the photo, waving or making a face. Usually it is a minor annoyance from juvenile behavior. Once in a while, though,  you may like what turns out. I was about to take a dull picture in Citygarden when this young man rode through. He made the snap a keeper.              

HOLLOW EYES

I'm not usually big on photographing other people's artwork, but then, say, how many times have I taken pictures of the Winged Victory of Samothrace at the Louvre? Or, for that matter, our Arch? There are lots of different ways to see and interpret. This is a detail of Igor Mitoraj's Eros Bendato, or Eros Bound, in Citygarden. This section is taller than I am, hollow and open at the base of the neck. Kids crawl around inside.