Lighted Spaces and Landscapes

Excerpts from a Geographer's Photo Archive

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Category: Urban

  • She Looks Like a Reporter

    She Looks Like a Reporter

    One of my favorite shots of Kathleen. I caught her on the rooftop of the place we were staying at. (Haridwar, India, 2009)

  • Good Architects Mess with Your Mind

    Good Architects Mess with Your Mind

    I.M. Pei is one of those architects that makes you feel a space differently even when it is highly functional. The atrium of the Museum of Islamic Art has an open air feel before you move into the exhibit wings. (Doha, Qatar, 2016)

  • The View from Hoboken

    The View from Hoboken

    Skyline views of Manhattan are always better from across the East River or the Hudson River. This day I was cooling my heels in the early morning waiting to meet a friend for breakfast at the place across the street. (Hoboken, New Jersey, 2019)

  • One of the Lesser Bridges

    One of the Lesser Bridges

    This is a workhorse of a bridge carrying 7 lanes of traffic, 4 subway tracks, a bike lane, and a pedestrian lane. Originally named “Bridge Number 3,” the Manhattan Bridge sits just to the east of the Brooklyn Bridge over the East River. (New York, New York, 2000)

  • Where is the Crummy Hotel?

    Where is the Crummy Hotel?

    I love Washington Square Park. It’s a place for people. This was a cold day in February, but the sun was out and so were people. However every time I’m there I hear the song that references the “crummy hotel over Washington Square. (New York, New York, 2019)

  • Ten Years Later

    Ten Years Later

    Changes in the urban landscape are often subtle–but look for them. The street is more defined as the city has worked to control and slow traffic. There is also a stand of rented bikes as the transportation culture changes. There are more taxi cabs than the 2009 photo (I have no explanation for that). (New…

  • It was a Chelsea Morning

    It was a Chelsea Morning

    This was a “throwaway shot” that hung on my office wall for years. I was on the High Line in New York shortly after it opened. I was just shooting randomly from the elevated park. (New York, New York, 2009)

  • Wells Street Bridge

    Wells Street Bridge

    Although still a drawbridge, the Wells street bridge doesn’t see the kind of commercial traffic it used to. These days it lifts for tour boats and large pleasure boats. (Milwaukee, 2001)

  • It’s the Light

    It’s the Light

    This is not a great looking building on a rather dull street, and yet the light was so good. So often wandering in Iceland not spectacular places looked terrific because of the light–the spectacular places looked even better. (Reykjavik, Iceland 2024)

  • It’s Still a Train Station

    It’s Still a Train Station

    This has been the wallpaper on my phone for a long time. It is decorative, but easy to read icons through. On more than one occasion I’ve been asked what famous church this is. I think it is probably a letdown for them to find out it is the LA Train station. (Los Angeles, 2002)