Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/09/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hey Martin, forget about downtown parking - you want to start with the greasy spoon restaurant on West 25th and Dennison - I can still feel the indigestion after 30 years, so the place must still be there, too. Look on a map for the Brooklyn Bridge near the zoo. From there, I used to just follow my nose for the mile or so walk to the Flats. But I keep hearing that they cleaned it up, so maybe that technique won't work anymore. When I was there, I was always grateful for sub-zero (Fahrenheit, that is) weather, 'cause I couldn't smell anymore! Better luck on the next Cleveland attempt. Thanks for the friendly comment - I'm amazed at all the places our paths have crossed. Har det så bra! Gary - ----- Original Message ----- From: Martin Howard <howard.390@osu.edu> To: Leica Users Group <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Sent: Monday, September 18, 2000 11:08 AM Subject: Almost photography in Cleveland (long, but not by my standards ;) > > I have a thing for cityscapes. Particularly in black and white. And > especially if they are taken on older lenses. I think it stems from a > combination of fascination with architecture and design, and with the > photographic tradition which gave rise to Feininger's "Chicago", Brassai's > pictures of Paris, and similar works. In any case, for whatever reason, I > have a thing for cityscapes. > > Now, Columbus in Ohio isn't the world's most photogenic city. It was a > comparatively small, chiefly agricultural centre (from what I've been able > to glean of its history) until only a few decades ago, at which point it > started to exploded in size. If you like modern red brick buildings thrown > together in haste without much thought to style or design, Columbus is your > kind of city. Personally, I'm much more interested by old industrial > buildings. While function was typically the main (only?) design > consideration, they can be approached from an aesthetic point of view. > Combine that eye with low, raking sunlight early in the morning or late in > the afternoon, and there is the potential for great photographs. > > Unlike Columbus, Cleveland does have its fair share of interesting > industrial buildings. It's about two hours drive north of Columbus, which > by American standards, is only a little less than most people would expect > to drive for breakfast and these days, with Eric the Red, I just look for an > excuse to exercise the ignition key. Besides, I detest having to plan for > things, much rather doing them on the spur of the moment. Said and done, I > decide that I'm going to go to Cleveland and shoot some rolls of film. > > I take more pictures the less stuff I carry, yet I manage to cram a Leica > M2, with 25mm, 35mm, and 50mm lenses into a bag, a Moskva-5 6x9cm folder, an > Agfa Clack 6x9cm fixed focus point-and-shoot, along with about 15 rolls of > film, a table-top tripod, and a light meter into a small satchel, which > practically guarantees that not a single frame of film will be exposed. > Initially, I was going to go up on the Saturday, but stuff happened as stuff > does, and so I decided to set off early on Sunday morning instead. > > Early Sunday morning was probably glorious. I say probably, because by the > time I woke at 11 am, early Sunday morning had passed and gone. Must be a > faulty alarm clock, or something. Anyway, I figured I'd have the afternoon > sun, shooting old buildings across the Cuyahoga River. Bag into the car, > stop for a coffee, hit I-71 northbound. > > Or rather, try to. On the map, roads around Columbus look like something > pretty well-organized, enabling you to quickly get to where you're going > from where you are, but in reality what on the map is a six-lane 65 mph > speedy route is a two-lane, crowded 35 mph crawl through construction zones > lined with orange cones and concrete dividers. The whole experience is like > a game of Tron. With orange cones on either side of every lane, from a > distance it just looks like a complete mess of orange. In addition to > which, of course, you're doing a leasurly 35 mph right up until 3/4 mile > before your turn-off, at which point traffic suddenly starts doing 70 mph > and you have to figure out which gap in the cones is your turn-off and which > is just the result of some inebriated OSU undergrad trying to see how many > he can knock down driving home from a frat party. > > Eventually, I make it out of Columbus and towards Cleveland. In the late > 70s, the car manufacturer's were apparently concerned that if you made the > seat back to seat angle adjustable on the driver's side, then there was a > risk of the whole assembly failing and flopping the seat back down into a > horizontal position while you drive. So, as a result, 45 minutes into the > drive to Cleveland, I feel my lower back and right leg go completely numb > because the angle is almost 90 degrees. With no cruise control, I have to > keep my foot on the accelerator and so the whole thing becomes an exercise > in acrobatics after about an hour. > > I get to Cleveland at about 3 pm. The first things that strikes me is that > there is a blimp hovering over the city, which reminds me of the ones I used > to see over the Fenway in Boston on game nights. The second thing that > strikes me is that there is a police officer and a Cleveland Browns > merchandize booth on every street corner and I then recall the title of > Oliver Stone's latest film: "Any Given Sunday". Sure enough, it's a home > game. Sure enough, there isn't a single parking space in town available, > and even if there were, they'd all be up from $6 a day to $15 for the > afternoon. So I cruise around Public Square for a while, considering my > options, locate the nearest parking lot for future reference and then point > Eric's missing hood ornament towards I-71 south. > > As I suspected: with that much gear, not a single frame of film exposed. Oh > well, there's always next weekend... > > > M. > > -- > Martin Howard | iCon iDole iRate > Visiting Scholar, CSEL, OSU | iDeal iDull iMage > email: howard.390@osu.edu | iSue iOn iGnorance > www: http://mvhoward.i.am/ +--------------------------------------- > > >