The Art of Architectural Architecture 11-30-2014

There are those people who love cities and others who appreciate the quiet countryside.  The architecture in cities can be spectacular or ordinary.  Nature's architecture, the same.  Where there are mountains, white-water rivers, blooming foliage and grand vistas, settlements of people exist so that these sights can be part of daily life.  Too, there are people who prefer the muted landscapes of long grasses on flat plains.  Cities, also may be characterized by tall glass and steel skyscrapers or by ornamented lower buildings with "character."

Personally, I love the element of surprise.  On a dive in the pristine landscape, I delight in coming across a 19th Century Federal brick building apparently constructed or commissioned by the landowner.  A clapboard house with a wide lapped porch perched on a cliff enchants me (I always look for the widow's walk!).  Elaborately gnarled trees; naturally constructed intricate rock formations as well as a perfectly constructed flowers found in a city are all architecturally enticing to my lens.  The juxtaposition of nature's genius for architecture as well as humans' creativity and artistic building has been my inspiration all along. 

The combination of nature IN the city is a twofer I can't resist!  On a recent shoot in the Bronx, I visited Mosholu Parkway on foot.  Frequently I have driven along this beautiful road to get from one place to another and have always marveled at the wide expanses of park ribbonned into the highway lanes.  The boarders of deco apartment buildings face a single service lane.  Then a broad, tree-lined grassy stretch, followed by three traffic lanes.  This configuration is mirrored and the entire parkway is truly a park.  Last week I took the opportunity to explore the area with my cameras.  As I walked along the road, I encountered hills, brilliant flowers and foliage, stately trees, wonderful deco buildings with names like Delacourt, Oliver and Park Lane Court and old fashioned street lights.  Finally I came to a beautiful concrete elevated train station that spanned Mosholu Parkway.  City and country combined architecture in ways that revel in the complexities of creation.

Sepia architectural photography

To learn more about Mosholu Parkway and parks in cities visit:
http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/mosholu-parkway

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/arts/design/in-madrid-even-maybe-the-bronx-parks-replace-freeways.html?pagewanted=all

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mosholu-Parkway/103212866398603#

The Art of Architectural Photography 11-12-2014

There is something so appealing about glass.  Glass allows light in.  It also has a certain glow factor that draws us to it.  Whether glass is used as building material, ornamental substance or the many other uses glass has, the undeniable allure of glass has motivated its employment for centuries.

Reflections also inspire our imaginations.  Water reflections, reflections in glass, images in metal: all created by light and attractively rippled to give the eye an opportunity to follow the arc of refracted light.  Reflections are captured in a moment and then altered by light so that their essence is ever changing.

Glass and reflections are a fascinating combination: bound in light, these inspire creativity.

Sepia architectural photography

To learn more about glass and light visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflection_%28physics%29
http://www.nytco.com/press/new-york-times-building/
http://www.west86th.bgc.bard.edu/translated-text/glass-modern-architecture.html

The Art of Architectural Photography 11-4-2014

There is something so appealing about looking through a window.  Looking into as well as out of a window gives me a sense of wonder.  Perhaps that is why I am a photographer.  Looking beyond the frame always seems magical to me and sparks my imagination to create my own world.

When I was a child, my family's narrow row house was in Borough Park, Brooklyn.  Down the street, on the corner, stood and still stands a small Roman Catholic Church.  Looking through the windows of the church held such mysterous beauty.  The exterior was stone and in the Gothic style.The interior was very dark with light streaming through jewel toned stained glass windows.  The glowing light made marvelous pools of colors within the velvety black space.  From the outside the reds, blues and yellows of the glass Biblical scenes shone like gems through the heavily mullioned casemet windows.
Smells of incense, candles and flowers drifted through the portals with organ music and Latin hymn singing.  Powerful sensory images for a child.

These have stayed with me and from time to time I chance upon a reminder like this beautiful Gothic Church in Brooklyn that I saw recently.  The colors of the stained glass gleaming from inside took me back to my childhood and inspired the same creative spark as long ago.

Black and white architectural photography.

To learn more about Gothic Church architecture and stained glass visit:
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/english-gothic-architecture.html
http://brooklynhistory.org/blog/2010/12/10/church-of-the-saviour/
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/26/nyregion/a-brooklyn-church-uncovers-a-long-hidden-celestial-scene.html