About Town
Here are some more outtakes from the SPC shoot this week.
Uh oh, I'm strutting again!
See, there really were other people there!
Dallas has an unusual-looking city hall designed by IM Pei. I think it was in Robocop.
I love this photo because I look so tiny.
Uh oh, I'm strutting again!
See, there really were other people there!
Dallas has an unusual-looking city hall designed by IM Pei. I think it was in Robocop.
I love this photo because I look so tiny. 
Labels: Field Trips
posted by JC at 8:03 AM
8 Comments:
It still looks pretty vacant. (yes tha't in my head)yay for robocop! I like the red sculptures. where was logan's run made?
They did film some of Logan's Run in this area. There's actually a web site here with info about some of the filming locations.
are you using a tripod? love the IM Pei. i've seen/been inside his work before.
:) Strutting, yes.
Downtown Dallas is really pretty. Did you take these pictures on a weekend? Not to belabor the point, but it does look really deserted out there. I guess I am just used to swarms of people at all hours of day. How did you choose your location? As in, why did you shoot where you did?
bekka - Yes, I did use a tripod. The world's crappiest and most beatdown tripod to be exact! Hopefully a nice one will be a reality soon.
anna - I did take the photos on a weekend, it was Saturday evening. Downtown Dallas is really weird, it's nothing like a large city in the northeast in terms of its vibrancy. I could almost write a whole post about this! Downtown is virtually deserted on weekday nights and weekends. The only time it looks busy is during the business day when everyone drives alone in their vehicle to their workplaces. After 5, everyone hightails it back to the suburbs.
If I had to guess I would say that this may in large part be due to the rapid growth of Dallas occurring after the proliferation of the automobile, resulting in a very spread out geography. It's a pattern that fits with a lot of western cities, like LA and Phoenix. Totally different from Boston, which was a real, honest-to-God city in the days when your town had to be built compactly because people relied on walking or riding a horse. It's kind of sad, actually. I find myself shocked when I see pedestrians around here in certain areas.
There's very little in downtown Dallas to serve as a destination, such as bars, restaurants, or clubs. There's lot of cool stuff near downtown, but almost nothing actually in downtown. Which may flow from the fact that there are very few places to actually live downtown, although things are changing somewhat. But last year a grocery store opened downtown to serve people living in the high-priced lofts that are starting to appear, and it has since closed.
I think there is a slow trend toward reurbanization, which may be helped by the ever-increasing price of gasoline. It's becoming kind of a trendy thing to buy a loft in or near downtown, but they're priced way out of a lot of people's reach (including me). Abundant cheap land and housing in outlying areas (as well as formerly very cheap gasoline) has fostered the increasing spread of the greater metro area.
In terms of the newly-revitalized downtown of the western city, Fort Worth is leaps and bounds above Dallas. They have an entertainment district downtown that has become a real destination spot for locals and tourists alike.
That's my 5 cent urban analysis!!
As far as location, I had an idea that I wanted to take some shots with city hall as the backdrop. After getting there I found the view from city hall more interesting than the view of city hall. I stumbled across the steers after just wandering around looking for inspiration. I wish I had a wider-angle lens. Due to the vagaries of digital cameras, the small end of my zoom range is effectively 56mm.
Um, can you tell it's kind of a slow day at work today? :)
hot stuff!
I've never seen those red thingies?? How beeeezare??? How could I have missed them in all my driving around lost?
I still can't believe you walked around so much with your camera just dangling around on a tripod. I would have been a nervous wreck.
I keep hearing "you should be jive talking" in my head when I see you in those pics.
Exactly Holli! Bee Gees are running through my head when I see the pics!
Still you would think that there would be more folks around.
Post a Comment
<< Home