monochrome Archives - Page 4 of 4

January 23, 2017January 23, 2017

Preferred Parking

On Saturday night I was walking back to my hotel in Vancouver and had to stop and do a double take when I passed what appeared to be preferred parking. It’s adjacent to a nightclub and what caught my eye was the modes of transport, i.e. German engineering. I have no idea which club this is but just after I took the shot I saw another couple arriving in a Porsche from Washington State. I guess the club is worth the two-hour drive up. If I had one of these cars I’d park here as well. Surely the valet attendant is well tipped.

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At the time I was walking around looking for street scenes to photograph. My Sony camera is so good at night photography that its something I look forward to doing whenever I’m in a big city.

It’s been about six months since I was in Vancouver and the one difference I noticed was the amount of people smoking weed in the open. I’d say it was more than in Amsterdam, and if you’ve ever been to Amsterdam that’s saying something. Maybe because it was a Saturday night, but I’m not sure.

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Anyway, there is always something to see / do / smell when walking around here. Everyone is out having a good time and some people know how to arrive in style.

January 19, 2017January 19, 2017

Contemporary Jewish Museum

This is part of the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Naturally the design caught my eye and is another example of art in architecture. As unusual a shape as it is, the wide angle lens accentuates the effect. The surrounding buildings seem to bend into its gravitational pull.

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Public art can evoke imagination transporting the thoughts of any who take the time to notice. I believe it subconsciously stimulates our inner worlds one individual at a time.

We all need art in our lives. Many of us live, move and age in a world without acknowledgment of art. We ignore it. I am no exception, racing at the feet of another god, unmindful of my surroundings. But eventually we tire of being disconnected from deeper meaning. Art is a portal to the place it was created. That’s an opaque way of saying it leads back to creative energy, because it’s the product of a creative.

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I have never considered myself a creative. But I’ve come to appreciate creatives and their art. And through the practice of the craft of photography I begin to recognize creative similarities in my own and different mediums. If I, of all people, can become aware of the value of art, then there’s hope indeed.

December 15, 2016

Bike Roads

In Amsterdam there are bike roads constructed everywhere. I’m not even sure they should be considered lanes because in many cases they are roads in their own right. The first thing I learned when I came here was that they are not for pedestrians. It only took one time. The same thing happened to me in Vancouver once. It must be a common mistake for foreigners.

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Quite often you’ll see passengers sitting sideways on the rack. The racks on these bikes are sturdy and people carry everything on them. While walking in the morning I saw parents carrying their kids to school. It’s no wonder the bicycle culture is passed from one generation to the next.

Bikes are parked everywhere but the highest concentrations are around train stations. At some stations its the only form of parking. There are tens of thousands parked in massive multi-level lots.

Bike mechanics thrive here, bike shops are more common than cheese shops. However people are resourceful and I saw riders jump off to quickly fix a slipped chain or flat tire. It appears that most people know the basics out of necessity.

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Despite all this I rode no bikes while I was here. I only walked so I could take it all in. But on my next trip that will be different. Riding a bike seems the most natural thing to do in Amsterdam.

December 14, 2016

The Floor of Toronto’s Eaton Centre

The floor of Toronto’s Eaton Centre as I walked through early one morning. The shapes and lines caught my eye so I used a balcony to capture it looking down. There are normally a lot of people walking around but I was here before opening.

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Years ago when I lived here this was called the Eaton Center. Eaton’s department store was one of the anchors with Hudson’s Bay the other. Things have changed since those days and the stores are now different and the name of the mall is changed. However I think everyone still calls it the Eaton Centre.

In some monochrome images I’ll leave something in color. This is a technique I use to elevate individuals or things. Photography is a way to freeze an instant of time, a random moment of our lives. Here I am emphasis a person within the setting.

Each person has a unique way of seeing the world, no two are alike. When the mall opens in another hour all of those people will pour in and become a crowd. Each individual in that crowd experiences it in their own way.

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That’s a zen perspective that I sometimes get from photography. I find that if I take a moment to consider a scene I might just find meaning in it. In this case I found meaning in the mall.

December 6, 2016December 6, 2016

A Little Bit of Everything

I walked through central Amsterdam on a Saturday Night and saw a little bit of everything. Having landed only that morning it was my first exposure to things which I’ve only read about. A lot of people were out having fun which in and of itself is not unusual. However the city of Amsterdam is anything but usual.

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For instance, I’m not used to seeing people smoking weed and hash out in the open. I’m not used to seeing shops where hallucinogenic drugs are sold. I’m not used to seeing brothels in and amongst the shops, restaurants and bars. Perhaps most unexpected of all was that people seemed quite blasé about it all. These things are just taken in stride.

Honestly I don’t know what I expected. I have this feeling that if we did the same thing in the United States it would be havoc, but that’s probably just my own ill-conceived ideas. I did not see junkies strung out on the street corners. There appeared to be very little crime, I felt perfectly safe on the streets even late at night. It’s the kind of town I could easily live in. In fact Amsterdam has a night mayor. It’s a real position that ensures all the night life runs smoothly.

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Anyway, it was early November and they already had Christmas lights up. That, along with all the happy (and possibly high) revelers out having a good time created a fun atmosphere. If I had to sum it up I would say that Amsterdam at night is an exceptional party town that could only exist in a European society. At least that was my first impression.

December 1, 2016

Plenty of Options

From the central station in Amsterdam there are plenty of options as far as transport goes. You could take a train, bus, taxi or ferry. You could also take a bike as tens of thousands are parked here. And if all else fails you can walk.

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This side of the station is modern and designed to accommodate these various types of transport. The other side of the station maintains old world classic architecture and is unrecognizable from the front.

On the upper deck to the left is the bus platform which is adjacent to the train platform. Below that is the car lane, then the bike lane and finally the walking lane. On the right the ferry can be boarded, free of charge.

I wasn’t thinking any of this as I took the photo, but Amsterdam Centraal is a monumental feat of engineering, architecture and design. This is where everything and everyone comes together.

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My short visit was spent mostly around this section of the city. I missed much and so I plan to come back and explore more. Having time to process what I did see and then go back will make the next trip even better.

And when I do go back I’ll have plenty of options for transport.

November 28, 2016November 29, 2016

Ladies in the A’DAM Lookout

I noticed these ladies in the A’DAM Lookout sitting and looking out over the city. I’m trying to figure out why I like this. I think its because when we see an image of someone or something we subconsciously project ourselves into the scene. In addition, maybe what they’re looking at creates a question. We see hints of the city beyond.

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Ladies Sitting There — Ladies in the A’DAM Lookout

This is a type of street photography, even though it didn’t occur on the street. It happened inside an observation lounge of a tall building. Some photos don’t easily fit into a category, maybe this is one.

Rather than analyze this, perhaps its better left to imagination. There is a story here that is unique to each person. We each see this though the lens of our own minds.

Because the woman’s coat is red she is the focal point. I made it that way on purpose. It’s a technique that, for me, conveys individuality. Images of people are about, well, individual people. At least that’s the point I’m trying to make. You can interpret something else regarding the red coat, it’s entirely up to you.

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At this point I guess I’ve answered my own rhetorical question. Perhaps now I can move on to something more concrete. Or not.

November 16, 2016November 16, 2016

In the Rain

This is a random shot I made in Amsterdam while walking around in the rain. It got me thinking about some general differences between the European and North American people.

In northern climates there’s no avoiding the rain. What strikes me is the commitment of europeans to using bikes. It’s one thing to ride a bike on a sunny day, but cold and rainy weather is another thing. I’d rather not ride in the rain, in North America its too dangerous and we don’t have many bike lanes.

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In the Rain — In the rain riding a bike in Amsterdam

Not so here in Amsterdam; there are as many bike lanes as roads and people are committed to this as a primary mode of transport, even in the cold and rain.

While I was walking around in near freezing weather I wore mittens and a scarf, yet I saw people riding without gloves and sometimes more than a little skin exposed. So using bikes here is a commitment beyond just fair weather riding. That’s not something that even occurred to me until I saw it for myself.

I suppose that because so many europeans use bikes, riding in the cold is normal. I think we North Americans can learn from that. It’s not so bad when if we just get on board with the idea.

The other thing that struck me was that folks here are in good shape. They’re burning calories not only from riding but by staying warm. Of course our bodies use energy just to maintain body heat when its cold.

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Anyway, this is a long winded post about people and bikes. Not sure why I got off on such a tangent. I guess I was impressed by europeans and their preferred mode of transport. From that one little thing you can learn something about a people and their culture. I think we could use a dash of that here in North America. That’s my 2 cents on the subject.