No, this is not the Budweiser brewery. (read more)
By Scott Shephard
Deb spent her day in meetings and I spent my day exploring the sites of St. Louis. More specifically, I went on the “Brewmaster’s Tour” of the Anheuser-Busch brewery. And for contrast I visited the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, which is pictured here. Talk about contrast and juxtaposition. If you are interested in more information on the Basilica, check this out. If you want to know what it looks like to tap a giant tank of Budweiser, here you go:
What does the Gateway Arch represent to you?
By Scott Shephard
Because Deb and I are frugal travelers, we rarely get a room with a view. Typically, if we stay in a high rise hotel, we are looking out over air conditioning units or the place where delivery and garbage trucks congregate.
But for the next few days, we are staying on the 12th floor at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark. As you can see, we have a river view. And, to my delight, we also have a great view of the Gateway Arch.
Are we splurging? Not really. Deb is one of four representatives for South Dakota at a midwest college conference, which is headquartered in this hotel. I’m a tag-along.
The Gateway Arch is a monument to the westward expansion of the United States. It is also very close to where Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery set off on their amazing journey up the Missouri River to the west coast.
As a person who spends considerable time on the Missouri River in a part of South Dakota that Lewis and Clark explored, it’s hard not to be intrigued by the opportunity to look out over this symbol. But it also occurs to me that if I were a Native American, I might see this huge stainless steel arch the way many see Mt. Rushmore: as symbols of of conquest.
So how does one balance these two views? It’s difficult, frankly. I guess awareness is a start, however meager that may seem. . . .
“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone. . . “
By Scott Shephard
I mentioned a while back that locations and subjects sometimes seek me out to photograph them (“Shouting Out in Whispers”). On the same day I photographed the old farm you see in that post, I also stopped to photograph this old building along the main road through Polo, SD. I’m glad I did because I noticed a few days ago that the building no longer exists.
If my Polo friends are reading this, perhaps one of them can give me a little history on this building, which I’m guessing was some kind of store. To me it was a curiosity. But to those who lived in Polo, I would guess it was much more than that.
Canon 5DIII 1/500s f/9.5 ISO200 99mm
A turn here and a turn there and you are a world away from the throngs. . . (read more)
By Scott Shephard
On a typical summer day in Venice, Italy, it is likely you’d find throngs of tourists. Some complain that the city has become a sort of Disney Land in that it is a place that people visit for all of it’s attractions and leave at the end of the day.
I don’t like crowds but being a tourist myself, I am often part of the crowd. I discovered, however, that in places like Venice it isn’t hard to “get away from it all.” This 2005 photo is evidence. Not too far from this place you’d be hard pressed to avoid bumping into someone. But here you’g be hard pressed to find another person. It’s my kind of place. I love the textures in this old place. And I love the silence, which I hope you, too, can appreciate when you look at this photo.
Canon 20D 1/15s f/4.5 ISO400 30mm
My old friend is long gone . . . (read more)
By Scott Shephard
A few days I wrote about on old farm north of Miller, SD. Today, I am posting a photo taken several years ago of another old farm house, this one north of Watertown. This farm house was kind of like an old friend in that I visited many times and always felt comfortable in the presence of this place. I even took portrait subjects there. And on one perfect fall day, I took my one of my photography classes out here.
Sadly, the farmhouse and the out buildings were bulldozed and burned to make room for more crops a few years ago. I still feel sad about this but I do understand the economics of farming that would have led to the destruction of a place that had little more than sentimental value.
Fortunately, I have a few photos of the farmstead. Though I wish I had more . . . .
Canon 5DII 1/40s f/5.6 ISO250 47mm
Here are a few more photos, the first of which is one of my favorite photography groups. The others are before and after aerial photos. The last aerial photo shows the pile of rubble that remained after the farm was bulldozed. But even the rubble is gone now.
Some houses have more to say to me than others. Do they talk to you? (see the photo essay by following the link to my blog)
By Scott Shephard
When you turn south off of US 212 and head towards Miller, SD, you will pass an old farm house that sits on the crest of a hill in a part of my state that otherwise seems flat and limitless. The two story structure faces east and seems to want to bend down on one knee. But it is still stands and breathes. And it always talks to me.
I figure I’ve been by this place over 200 times. And every time as I pass it, it quietly calls out. “Look at me,” is what I usually hear. But sometimes in the morning or evening darkness, without seeing it, I only hear it say, “I’m here.” For, you see, even in the dark, when I drive on highway 45, I know the country road it lives on.
Yesterday morning, as I approached on my way home, it said in an pleasantly insistent tone, “Let’s talk.” And so I slowed and turned. It was sunny and warm and when I got out of my truck, camera in hand, all I heard was birdsong, distant cattle and the sound of other vehicles speeding towards their destinations. Their drivers hadn’t answered the house’s call.
Photographing a place like this is a reverential act for me. I feel like I have been asked to take a portrait of someone who may not be around much longer. And I have many questions. “What is your name?” “How long have you been here?” “What can you tell me about the craftsmen who build you?” “What’s it like to spend a winter here?” And, ultimately, I ask, “What joys, what sorrows and what triumphs have you witnessed in your long life?”
When I asked these questions yesterday, I was met with a friendly, and perhaps stoic, silence. We might expect that from an aged South Dakota Flatlander. But even in its silence it had much to say to me.
I listened as I walked around and took a few photos. When I left I said, “I’ll be back. Will you wait for me?” All I heard in response was the pleasant birdsong and the silence of the beautiful South Dakota prairie.
Canon 5DIII 1/250s f/11.0 ISO250 24mm
It has been called by some a “palace of justice” (read more)
By Scott Shephard
As some old timers say, “They don’t build ’em like that anymore.” That’s certainly true of the Codington County Court House, which was built in the late 1920s. Though the building is beautiful, there is talk about the need for something more “modern.” Modern isn’t always architecturally interesting, though I understand the need for space, efficiency and security.
The problem with modern is that it often pays little respect to the “vintage.” In fact, the antecedent to our current court house was destroyed to make room for it, even though the old building was itself a beautiful structure. Out with the old and in with the new, I guess.
Canon 5DIII 1/80s f/4.5 ISO1250 16mm
There’s nothing like a Corinthian column capital (or the alliteration of three “c” words). . . .
By Scott Shephard
How about a post with few words today? (This photo was taken at the Minnesota state house in St. Paul.)
Canon 5DIII 1/40s f/3.2 ISO2500 35mm
The candid camera captures a man lost in a work of art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC . . . .
By Scott Shephard
Other than distant voices, the sound of my camera’s shutter was the only thing to break the silence of this wonderful room in the National Gallery of Art. But the man in the photograph was oblivious to all of that. Such is the power of art . . . .
Canon 5DIII 1/40s f/2.8 ISO1000 16mm
Good architectural design involves good furniture. . . .
By Scott Shephard
An ongoing project of mine is to photograph various places at Lake Area Technical Institute where a local office store (Office Peeps) has provided furniture. The LATI library is featured in today’s post and as far as I’m concerned everyone involved in the design did a brilliant job.
Years ago, when Watertown High School added a large new wing, there was an open house to show off the new space. One of the taxpayer complaints was, “Why did we waste so much money on color?” The thinking must have been that institutions should be gray and drab since gray and drab is cheaper. Color, light and space have huge impact on how we feel. And as I life-long teacher I can tell you that all of the senses play a significant role in learning.
Canon 5DIII 1/10s f/7.1 ISO320 19mm
A few more from the photo shoot:
