June 2012

Measures of Anonymity #7 Denver, Colorado 2012

Not much less uniformity in these buildings compared to yesterday’s post, but the sameness is more pleasing nonetheless.]]>

Measures of Anonymity #6 Denver, Colorado 2012

No lack of uniformity in the these building exteriors.

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Measures of Anonymity #5 Denver, Colorado 2012

Another window mosaic, this one with a little more architectural variability and even some operating windows and a couple of balconies up in the corner where there’s a bit of a chance that an actual real person might appear from time to time.]]>

Measures of Anonymity #4 Denver, Colorado 2012

A dense mosaic of windows reflecting even more windows all suggesting hoards of anonymous activities being carried on behind them.]]>

Measures of Anonymity #3 Denver, Colorado 2012

I like the optical illusion the indentation on this building provides–it looks as if the center section has slumped down in the middle.

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The Visitor Bozeman, Montana 2012

This cinnamon colored black bear stopped by the pond at our house for a dip a couple of days ago. He was obviously there just to play around. He swam back and forth for a while, rolled on his back and put all four feet in the air (yeah, I know, I should have been taking pictures of that but I was too busy gawking I guess), and then played with a bale of barley straw we’d put in the pond to control algae like it was a beach ball). My good camera was in my studio in a separate building. I might have gone to get it but I didn’t want to scare him away, although that might not have been likely as I believe it was the same bear who broke into our neighbors house and was chowing down in their kitchen–and continued to do so after they came home and tried to scare him away. So, I had to take this photo with my cell phone.]]>

Measures of Anonymity #2 Denver, Colorado 2012

Very sleek, very modern, and very much giving no clue about the occupants.

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Measures of Anonymity #1 Denver, Colorado 2012

While in Denver I was having fun adding to my Gridlock series of photos of regular grids on buildings when I became intrigued with the thought that these regular patterns could be interpreted as metaphors for anonymity in the city. The massive number of boxes in the grids reflect the number of lives that are carried out behind them while their sameness represents the fact that we know essentially nothing about these individuals. From the viewer’s standpoint anyway these lives are carried out in obscurity or anonymity. So I’ve renamed the series and will be expanding its scope to include varying degrees of uniformity in the building patterns and also glimpses of individuality that impose themselves on the grids.]]>

Sleeping It Off Denver, Colorado 2012

A half dozen early birds and one who either got up so early he couldn’t sustain the advantage or stayed up too late the night before.]]>

Urban Topologies Denver, Colorado 2012

With all the buildings, freeways, concrete and asphalt in a city, it’s hard to get a feel for the actual shape of the land underneath, or to even remember there is an underlying natural topology under all the development. I was imagining that the rough surfaces of these traffic barriers were manifestations of the hidden local terrain exerting itself.]]>