Category: Architecture

House on the Hill: Update

On By Fred KingIn abandoned buildings, Architecture, B&W, buildings, Houses, Nikon D610, Seattle, South Park, Thoughts, Uncategorized, Urban DecayLeave a comment

In March of 2016 I posted a couple of photos of an abandoned house in the South Park neighborhood of South Seattle, near where I live. I resisted the location this past week and you can see the ‘changes’ that have taken place in less than a year. I couldn’t get in the house in March as it had about 3-4 feet of debris in each room-who knows what was in that mess? Now, the house has suffered a major fire ( arson, most likely) and it is mostly a charred ruin. The lot it sits on has been cleaned of dead cars and all sorts of other trash and is now barricaded off with huge cement blocks and cable. At one time this house had a great territorial view and was probably someones pride and joy.

Fire Escapes

On By Fred KingIn Architecture, Blue Sky, buildings, LES, Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City, Nikon D610, street, Travels, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Various fire escapes on buildings in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and the buildings they are attached to ( sounds like a lame book title ).

F Train to Coney Island

On By Fred KingIn Architecture, Brooklyn, buildings, Cemetery, clouds, Coney Island, Houses, Landscape, New York, Nikon D610, NYC, Subway, Train, Travels, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Washington Cemetery can be seen from this elevated section of the F Train, as well as the yard where subway cars are parked and serviced. Coney Island is home to very large apartment complexes, something you don’t usually see in photos of the summer retreat.

Coney Island/Stillwell Ave. Station

On By Fred KingIn Architecture, B&W, Brooklyn, buildings, New York City, Nikon D610, NYC, Thoughts, Train, TravelsLeave a comment

This station is the end of the F and G lines. Subway trains pull inside the large covered area and then proceed to head out in the opposite direction. The station actually faces Surf Ave. but for whatever reason, it is named Stillwell Ave. Station. I think the station got a major facelift a few years ago. Stillwell Ave. may be the street on the left ( as you look at this image) of the Station. I have entered and exited from both sides and they both work just fine, however more shops can be seen if you enter via Surf Ave. You can imagine the throngs of people heading to the beach in the summer, cascading out of the two exits. In October it is deserted, aside from a few odd travelers such as myself :-).

Film Crews in Gowanus

On By Fred KingIn Architecture, Brooklyn, Gowanus, Gowanus Canal, movie, New York City, Nikon D610, Park Slope, TravelsLeave a comment

As odd as it may seem, film crews do a lot of shooting around the Gowanus Canal. This set took up quite a bit of space, with catering and support vehicles and all. There is still a graphic book available, called It Came from the Gowanus Canal, for $5. which makes sense, but a film setting seems a bit weird. Usually there is always filming done in Brooklyn Heights, a much more scenic place in Brooklyn. The series Point of Interest was always shooting in Brooklyn Heights, it seemed.

Anyway, I included the image of the church steeple across the canal, closer to Carroll Gardens and this corner shot, as well.

In Distress

On By Fred KingIn Architecture, B&W, Brooklyn, buildings, clouds, Environment, Gowanus, Gowanus Canal, New York City, Nikon D610, NYC, Park Slope, street art, Thoughts, Travels, Urban DecayLeave a comment

Gowanus Canal: Two ways of looking at the Superfund Site.

The Gowanus Canal can be a very picturesque place or,  depending on the light and your vantage point, it can be a pretty sketchy place with an aroma you will never forget.

Past and Present

On By Fred KingIn Architecture, Brooklyn, buildings, clouds, iPhone 6, New York City, Park Slope, street, Thoughts, Travels1 Comment

Two iconic buildings in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Public Library and The Old Stone House in Park Slope right across the street from where our son and family live.Both of these images were taken on my iPhone. Every Saturday there is a Farmers/Saturday Market in front of the Library and entrance to Prospect Park and Grand Army Plaza , a confluence of interesting sites to visit. The morning we were at the Market a man with a green flag ran up the steps leading to the library entrance and started waving this flag. I have no idea what it was about, but someone was videotaping his actions. ??

Morning from Brooklyn Bridge Park

On By Fred KingIn Architecture, Brooklyn, buildings, clouds, Fall, iPhone 6, Manhattan, New York City, NYC, river, sky, TravelsLeave a comment

img_2569On a very blustery morning. Walking the Brooklyn Bridge Park this morning and took this shot of Manhattan across the East River.

TBT:A Glimpse Back in Time

On By Fred KingIn 1970, 35mm, Architecture, B&W, buildings, film, San Francisco, Scanned from 35mm Print, Thoughts, Travels1 Comment

Another blogger, SunandGold, recently did  a posting from her time spent in San Francisco. Her interest and fascination with the city/culture was shared by me 45+ years ago. I promised I would post these photos from 1970 in one posting ( rather than individual posts that I did in the past) so she could get a slight inclination of what the city was like all those years ago, measured against her recent visit to the city.

If you look closely at the image of Vanessi’s you will see a woman walking alongside the building, having come down Telegraph Hill. The image below, looking up that same street, shows a lone man in a suit walking to work ( this was a morning shot). Anyway, two points:the woman is wearing a scarf. This type of dress or accessory died off or fell out of favor shortly after this time. Also, personally for me or about me, both of these images portray the individual /subject as being a small, insignificant part of the world they are captured in, in terms of composition. To this day I have continued this approach, portraying a sense of ‘aloneness’, in many street shots of people. It almost seems like an unconscious methodology or approach to people. Even in the most crowded of spaces, people find themselves isolated. The images with cars in them also help validate the point in time in which I shot these film images all those years ago.

 

I think the rest of the images are, for the most part, self explanatory. Of interest might be the image adjacent to the City Lights Bookstore. If you look at the reader board on the building you can actually read the band/musicians on the bill for that week, which in some sense helps to corroborate the time at which the image was shot. Keystone Korner was a great venue for catching current musicians such as Boz Scaggs and Bennhy Cecil and the Snakes! I think it was an over 21 club, but I could be wrong.

Thanks for going along for this short ride into the past with me!