Industrial Ruins

I guess I have to ask for your indulgence for a couple of more days. I am still taken with a lot of the stuff I shot in Detroit. While wandering around an abandoned factory, which I expect to post within a day or two, I saw this. it immediately grabbed my attention - the design of the structure, I guess it was. I just love industrial stuff, and when it is surrounded by cracked pavement with grass growing up through it, well, it just doesn't get any better. I read a wonderful book once about why we love ruins. Unfortunately I forget why that is. Duh! I am beginning to think that this post makes no sense at all... :-)

Strange Rooms

I have decided to show you two strange rooms today. They are both in observatories. The top photograph is what you see when you come in the front door of the Detroit Observatory. There are four arches, and they lead to the center of the observatory, which is a huge tapered masonry column that fills the center of the entire building. The column begins in the basement and goes all the way to the telescope room on top of the house. It is really important that the telescope be mounted on something that does NOT move. The lower photograph is in a solar observatory. If it looks like you are inside a giant water tank or silo, you would be correct. In 1930 the designers of this observatory started by buying a water tank, and then added floors and support structure. This is a view of the inside wall of the tank, and the opening in the floor leading down to a lower level.

Why I Love Old Observatories

If you wonder why I belong to the Antique Telescope Society, and why I go to these conventions, check out this gorgeous telescope. This is a six-inch aperture Pistor & Martins "meridian circle." It points up through that slit in the roof, and determines the positions of stars as they pass through the meridian. It does it with incredibly great accuracy. But it is stunning to look at, having been recently restored. It was one of the original instruments in the observatory when it opened in 1854.

The Wave Field

Liz sent me a link the other day to a story in the Times about a new sculpture installation by Maya Lin at Storm King Art Center in upstate New York. I have wanted to go there, but have not as yet. Anyhow, there was mention of a similar sculpture "The Wave Field" installed at the University of Michigan in 1995. "Wait!" I thought - "I am AT the University of Michigan!" How cool is this, to find out about the artwork while I am here. So I took an hour between the end of the lectures and dinner to drive over to another part of the campus and see the work. It is lovely, and calming, and playful. It was also VERY difficult to photograph. This is one view - there is also another which I may post at another time. What I did do was slowly walk around on it and in it - on the tops of waves, and in the troughs of waves, and around the edges. It is a wonderful piece to explore in that way - you really need to be in the sculpture. I spent the whole hour enjoying it, and photographing it, and this is one of my favorite views. I can't wait to get to Storm King for the new installation.

Apsara Warrior

I had about an hour to spare this afternoon, so went to the University of Michigan Art Gallery. I wish I had more time to spend here. I rounded a corner by a stairway and came face to face with this sculpture! Wow! It stopped me in my tracks! It is called "Apsara Warrior" and is by the Cambodian artist Ouk Chim Vichet. It is made from chopped up pieces of AK-47 rifles! An Apsara is a female divinity, going back to the first century in Cambodia's native history. This sculpture came about as part of Cambodia's ongoing disarmament effort, the Peace of Art Project Cambodia, which raises public awareness of of the need for non-violence in society. I do not remember the last time a piece of sculpture affected me so powerfully. I stood there and just looked at it for ten or fifteen minutes. I could spend an hour just examining all of its incredible details. It is stunning!

Morning in Ann Arbor

OK, this is a quiz... Pick your favorite photograph. I went downtown early this morning for our convention, and after parking the car had to walk to the building where we were meeting. I drove by this scene on the way to the parking lot, and it grabbed me, so I spent some time trying to find the best view. I first saw the bottom photograph, which is straight on, and lit from the front. Then walking back from the parking lot, I saw the top photograph, lit from the side. When shooting each, I waited for a pedestrian to enter the scene to add interest and scale. But for the life of me, I cannot decide which photograph I like best. Take your pick! Be sure to click on each photograph to see more detail before deciding.

One Hundred Fifty-Five Years

We were at the Detroit Observatory today for part of our convention activities, and we toured the facility to see the building and the two telescopes here. The building was beautifully restored back in 1996-1998 and it is just stunning. It was originally built back in 1854, which to me seems unimaginable, somehow. I will have to show you some of the telescopes later on. But the thing that jumped out at me tonight was these old wooden steps up to the observing floor for the large refractor. The texture, and the years of wear on the tread speak volumes to the work that has been done here. How many nights have astronomers walked these stairs to the cold dark observatory for a long night's work. These stairs are a hundred and fifty-five years old, and they are more beautiful for their old age. This is a large file, so please click on it to see more detail.