Tuesday, May 29, 2007
China: Coming Soon
I just got back from a trip to China - Shanghai, Yangshuo, Kunming, Lijiang, Tiger Leaping Gorge, and many places in between - and I'll be posting photos from it soon. I shot many many photos, 17 rolls of 36 exp., so I have to check my funds before taking them in. But here's a little taste of the trip, this photo was taken by Liah at the summit of our hike on Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Austin City 1
I'm Austin on a layover to Shanghai right now. I spent the day visiting an urban farm, walking around the hike and bike trail, and doing some last minute errands via borrowed bicycle. I love this city. Its green and warm, people are friendly, and there's an excitement over the newness of everything that's tempered by a proper amount of skepticism. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos, but there are some nice scenes I witnessed that I'll have to come back to sometime.
BOGGY CREEK FARM - an all-organic farm a 15-minute bike ride from downtown. They have hens, pick-your-own strawberries, tons of greens and vegetables, as well as a healthy does of politics over food transport. Standing in line today I heard Carol Ann, the owner, talking about the way Chinese garlic has ruined local production. Her garlic seems 'expensive' by comparison, but it actually juices when you cut it. We bought potatoes, cilantro and eggs laid that morning to make breakfast tacos and salsa, plus some beets for dinner. Lots of kids and older folks walking around, being friendly Texans.
HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL - a big wide sidewalk that follows nearly every creek running through the city. In San Antonio they paved over all their creeks. In Austin they turned them into linear parks for people to walk or bike along. They link to one another via other parks or the part of the Little Colorado River that runs through town and is officially called Town Lake.
We hiked down the Shoal Creek trail to the river. There were all kinds of new condos going up all along, like most everywhere in Austin. We also saw a bridges being repaired, with huge scaffolding erected in the middle of a dry part of the creek. We saw about fifteen turtles ome sun-bathing, some swimming slow, some scared and haulin' ass. There were also fish, and we wondered where all the fish go when the creek dries up mid-summer. At one point along the creek there was this long black flexible plastic tubing snaked around the base of a tree at one end, and around the side of a bridge at the other. At the bridge end, the snake was spewing out some orange mesh. Near Town Lake we saw where this big wall had fallen down and taken a huge tree with it. There were some people surveying the land at this spot, some on land and some on a canoe in the water near the fallen wall.
Well, gotta run for now, gotta catch a flight in the morning. In 5 hours actually. Post more later: river and joggers and the park-and-run, spiral ped risings for bikes, not wheelchairs., also LIVE OAKS.
BOGGY CREEK FARM - an all-organic farm a 15-minute bike ride from downtown. They have hens, pick-your-own strawberries, tons of greens and vegetables, as well as a healthy does of politics over food transport. Standing in line today I heard Carol Ann, the owner, talking about the way Chinese garlic has ruined local production. Her garlic seems 'expensive' by comparison, but it actually juices when you cut it. We bought potatoes, cilantro and eggs laid that morning to make breakfast tacos and salsa, plus some beets for dinner. Lots of kids and older folks walking around, being friendly Texans.
HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL - a big wide sidewalk that follows nearly every creek running through the city. In San Antonio they paved over all their creeks. In Austin they turned them into linear parks for people to walk or bike along. They link to one another via other parks or the part of the Little Colorado River that runs through town and is officially called Town Lake.
We hiked down the Shoal Creek trail to the river. There were all kinds of new condos going up all along, like most everywhere in Austin. We also saw a bridges being repaired, with huge scaffolding erected in the middle of a dry part of the creek. We saw about fifteen turtles ome sun-bathing, some swimming slow, some scared and haulin' ass. There were also fish, and we wondered where all the fish go when the creek dries up mid-summer. At one point along the creek there was this long black flexible plastic tubing snaked around the base of a tree at one end, and around the side of a bridge at the other. At the bridge end, the snake was spewing out some orange mesh. Near Town Lake we saw where this big wall had fallen down and taken a huge tree with it. There were some people surveying the land at this spot, some on land and some on a canoe in the water near the fallen wall.
Well, gotta run for now, gotta catch a flight in the morning. In 5 hours actually. Post more later: river and joggers and the park-and-run, spiral ped risings for bikes, not wheelchairs., also LIVE OAKS.
Friday, May 4, 2007
D.C. Metro
DC Metro #3 (Outside Escalator Looking Down)
DC Metro #4 (Outside Escalator Looking Up)
DC Metro #7 (Lone Man Against Wall)
DC Metro #8
DC Metro #9 (Empty Platform)
DC Metro #10 (Girl Looking Back)
DC Metro #13 (Three Going Down)
DC Metro #15 (Watching From Above)
DC Metro #16 (System Map)
DC Metro #19 (Escalator Feet)
DC Metro #20 (Arriving Train Series 1)
DC Metro #21 (Arriving Train Series 2)
DC Metro #22 (Arriving Train Series 3)
DC Metro #23 (Arriving Train Series 4)
DC Metro #25 (Subway Doorway)
DC Metro #26 (Down The Aisle)
DC Metro #30 (Rosslyn Station)
DC Metro #32 (Entering/Leaving Rosslyn Station)
DC Metro #36 (Turnstyles)I received many positive responses to the three photos from the DC Metro that were in my recent show (see previous post). The colors here are what attracted people the most. Thanks to a roll of Kodak Ultra Color 400 I found at a high-end photo store near the mall, and to my surprisingly steady hand considering I was a nervous man with a beard photographing public infrastructure post 9/11, the darkness of the DC metro system contrasts well with vivid color from what little lighting there was.
Not all these photos worked for the Dance Of Life : Daily Movement show, but I think they work together as a series all their own. Those above are my favorite photos from the roll. They are numbered based on the order they were taken. I shot them all in under an hour, just in time to get to Rosslyn Station where the bus would take me back to Dulles Aiport so I could finally catch my transfer flight to Burlington.
This was part of an unexpected trip to DC after I was forced into a 16-hour stopover at Dulles Airport. Soon I'll post the photos I made while staying overnight in the airport and also the shots from the DC Mall the next day, before I entered the metro.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Simplified Hydroponics - Urban Agriculture
untitled Santropol Roulant's Rooftop Garden
Montreal, Quebec. 2005
Montreal, Quebec. 2005
These edible flowers and chard, lettuce and basil plants are part of Santropol Roulant's Rooftop Garden. It's an experimental garden testing a simplified hydroponic system. The plants sit in a small amount of soil-like material while their roots extend down into water. The containers are light enough to be portable and fit well on tight spaces like rooftops and balconies. (For examples see these photos here and here.) This is part of the effort to spread agriculture in urban areas.
This particular photo was taken at one of Santropol's rooftop garden parties in the summer of 2005.
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