Invincible Cities

Camilo Jose Vergara, Invincible Cities

I just noticed while writing the post title that it’s actually “Invincible” Cities… Upon quick glance I had been navigating through the images under the incorrect assumption that the title was “Invisible” Cities… and that surly changes my reading on how the images are linked to one another and form a narrative.

Harlem, New York:  ’Transformation’ is the first word that comes to mind upon viewing the set of images taken at 65 East 125th Street.  For one example, the same store front was photographed from 1977 through today with the changes (and what remains) recorded throughout the years.  Some of the occupants include:  ”Purple Mirror Bar,” “Fish-N-Chips,” “Looking Glass Boutique,” “Discount Varieties,” “Smoke Shop,” “Kitchen Cabinets,” “Sherman’s Unisex Boutique,” ” Sissors and Stylz Beauty Stop,” “2001 Top Gear-Clothing and CDs,” and  ”Sleepy’s.”  There seem to be so many transformations… but in context, this is just one address of one street of one area of one city…

Camden, New Jersey:  The category captions add to the powerful juxtaposition of this set of images: “Textures of Decay,” “Stable Neighborhood,” “Things Left Behind,” “Survivors,” “Drugs,” “Commerce,” “Fortification…”  The “Pair” images of houses are also incredible.  919 N. 24th Street for example shows a well kept home on the left… inches away and attached to the home on the right which has been severely damaged and burned from a fire.  908 N. 24th Street is also an example of the juxtaposition with a boarded-up, run-down home on the left attached to a well-kept, modernized home on the right.

Richmond, California:  The images from this set that stand out for me are the ones from Canal Street, and the others from the southwest portion of the city.  The subject of these images are of shipyards, boats, cranes, and other port infrastructure similar to my site at Massport.  There is a familiar scale of the objects in the images as well as a feeling of use and wear from industry and work.

Death of a Valley

I think this reading (“Death of a Valley” by Dorothea Lange and Pirkle Jones) is a good precursor to working on the essay because it is exemplary in the way captions, text, and images are combined to tell the story.  The images and text don’t overpower each other, but rather work together to make a more powerful essay.  I particularly like how there seems to be just the right amount of text – nothing more than what’s needed.  Often times I feel that text and captions dilute the stand-alone power of the images, but I feel that this essay has a good balance.

Journal

The night following Wednesday’s exercise I had vivid dreams related to the place I went back to as a child – the basement of my house growing up.  I also started to remember more and more details.  I started to recall more smells, noises, and textures from my place.  It was a wondrous world where I created imaginary places and things.  As a cross between construction site and experimental laboratory, it could become anything I wanted it to.  Most importantly though, it was my place (save for the occasional visits to the laundry room or workroom by my parents or sister).  I remember spending hours down there, looking through boxes and building things – inventing my own worlds as I went along.

I found an old picture of me in the basement from when I was about seven (I’m guessing).  Here we can see my early interest in structural engineering and architecture.  This is an area of the basement that is more open, but it gives you an idea as to the things I had to play/work with:  skis, bikes, old sheets, boxes of stuff, light bulbs, wood blocks, old toys, materials, tools, etc.

 

I find the comparison between my basement and site for the semester sort of eerie.  Both are these kind of (seemingly) unkept industrial places that are in themselves their own little dynamic worlds.  Both places are like little cites that are constantly changing.  They are colorful places which rely on their intricate significant details, but also simplify into basic geometric shapes and forms.  The boxes of stuff in my basement are similar to the cargo containers that come off of the ships to be sorted and organized at the port. 

As a small kid, my basement always seemed larger than it probably was – an endless maze to be explored.  I have a similar feeling now when I visit the port.  The geographical area is probably not that large, but after visiting warehouse after warehouse, and ship yard after ship yard, I felt the same as I did in my basement as a child.

I did the looking assignment last week before class, but after I submitted my journal entries.  Here are some of the notes I took on my favorite images:

Joel Meyerowitz, Creating a Sense of Place:

Provincetown, 1977 (page 27) – The implied motion in the way the sheets are blowing is wonderful.  The white beam cuts the photo in half, and my eye keeps being drawn up to the sky.

Provincetown, 1986 (page 28) – This image is very complex in its simplicity.  In the introduction, Meyerowitz says, “you go someplace to be there,” and I think that this image captures that.  I like turning this image 180 degrees with the reflections pointing up and reality pointing down.  A little more than an arms length away though, and you can’t tell which is which.

St. Louis, 1977 (page 35) – Significant details are very important in this image – the Arch, the moon, the light band on the building, the shadows, etc.

St. Louis, 1977 (page 36) – The first thing I wanted to know about this picture was – What are those people talking about?  They seem just as static as the buildings.  The shadows seem to be the most dynamic element of this image.

Michael Kenna, Le Notre’s Gardens:

Vaux le Vicomte (Plate 3) – Just like Meyerowitz’s “Provincetown, 1986” image.  I must really like reflections.

Allée D’Honneur (Plate 10) – Reflections again!   Here the trees are reaching out over the river, presumably reaching for the light.

Chariot of Apollo, Versailles (Plates 20 (study 1) and 27 (study2)) – These two images have the same subject matter but are completely different (in feeling) because of the weather/atmosphere.  The haze in study two blurs the trees and causes the reflection to be muddled.  In study 1, it’s not as hazy, and the reflection is crystal clear.  The leaning tree in study 1 is a great significant detail as well.

Equestrian (Plate 24) – From this angle, the equestrian is marching up the constructed stair landscape towards the buildings.  I’m drawn to the texture and rhythm of the stairs.

Conical Hedges (Plate 30) – The contrast is fantastic.  The trees have become simple geometric figures suspended between the light ground and sky.