Protection IslandProtection Island and the Olympic Mountains at dusk.

Today I launched week three of 🇺🇦A Print for Ukraine🇺🇦. This week's image is a photograph I made of Protection Island, which is a wildlife sanctuary located in the Straight of Juan de Fuca in the Puget Sound, Washington. It will be available for sale through March 31. 

This image, like the two previous images for 🇺🇦A Print for Ukraine🇺🇦 is sold as a metal print and is available in four sizes.

Click on the image to order. 

The original design included an outdoor, spiral ramp that provided access to the lower level. In the early 1990's, however, an extension was approved for a new wing that would include a children's section, a theater and meeting rooms. The city awarded the project to the architectural firm of Anthony & Langford, whose design enclosed the spiral ramp. It's still there, but now it's indoors. I can't help but wonder how complimentary a Dion Neutra-designed extension might have been to his original concept. 

All pictures below are mine. 

Fun facts:

• Richard Neutra was an Austrian architect who emigrated to America in the '20's (The 1920s, that is.) He was one of the giants of modernist architecture
• The reflecting pool, which patrons can view from the reading decks toward the west of the building, is no longer reflecting; it has been dry since the drought got serious in Southern California  
• From 1950 until the opening of the Central Library in 1975, the Main Street branch of the Huntington Beach Public Library served the city. The Main Street branch still functions in its original, modernist building which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
• Over the years I have donated hundreds of dollars in late fees to the Huntington Beach Public Library
• I always paid my fines at the desk in the Media Center because a staff member once told me that fines paid there went into the library budget, whereas fines paid at the central check-out area go into the city's budget

Here is the northwest corner of the Central Library, showing the glass facade of the western wall and the dry floor of the reflecting pool and concrete waterfall: 

Huntington Beach Public LibraryThe northwest corner and the glass facade of the western wall,...with the drought-stricken concrete waterfall and reflecting pool in the foreground.

The northwest corner again, this time showing the curved retaining wall for the reflecting pool:  Huntington Beach Public LibraryIn the foreground is the curved retaining wall for the reflecting pool. The glass facade of the western wall is in the background.

Here is a night shot of the western wall when the reflecting pool had water in it some years ago. I still am unsure if I scanned the picture right side up or not:  Library Reflected The western facade is shown in reflection, the water in the reflecting pool being so still on the night I shot this image that I have always had trouble know which side of the image is up.

This image is of the Middle Reading Deck. I think it provides a good idea of the space inside the library: The Middle Reading DeckI think there are three reading deck levels. Maybe four if you count the upstairs magazine and periodicals section. This image provides a decent idea of style and ambiance inside the library.

This is the building in situ from across Talbert Lake: Huntington Beach Public LibraryIn situ from across Talbert Lake.

The Stone Arch Bridge by the numbers: 

• Number of arches: 21 
• Number of other stone arched bridges over the Mississippi River: 0 
• Number of bridges over the Mississippi that are older than the Stone Arch Bridge: 1 (The Eads Bridge in St. Louis. Opened 1874)
• Number of times I personally have walked across the Stone Arch Bridge: 4,...maybe 5.

Well, this doesn't exactly describe the Gateway Arch but it's close enough for this blog.

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri was designed in 1947 by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and was built between 1963 and 1965. Saarinen won the commission as a result of a design competition. The competition's judges first narrowed the submissions from 172 to 5. Eero's father Eliel had also submitted a design. When word arrived that the Saarinen entry had made the top 5 it was thought to be Eliel's design. A champagne toast was raised to celebrate. A couple of hours later word arrived that there had been a mistake. It wasn't Eliel's design that had made the top 5, it was Eero's. More champagne flowed!

The Eero design was unanimously selected in the second selection phase. (I'm guessing champagne flowed once again.) 

There's a  viewing platform at the top of the Arch. People arrive there via tram cars. Each tram car has multiple pods that seat 5 people each. Think twice if you're prone to claustrophobia. But if you make it to the top the views over St. Louis and the Mississippi River are quite spectacular. 

This might be a fairly unusual image of the Arch. Most show more of it, if not the entire structure, in all its curvaceous glory. I've chosen here to focus on a detail that only suggests the curvature. You can use your imagination to fill in the blank, or there are a million beautiful images on-line you can easily access.

Some facts about the Arch: 

• 630 feet tall and 630 feet wide at its base
• Tallest structure in Missouri
• Clad in 1/4" stainless steel
• Weighs 43,226 tons
• My copyright is not actually engraved in the Arch

This is looking from the north. There are nice viewing platforms on this side of the bridge and though parking in the adjacent town (just a couple of hundred yards away) can be problematic due to tourist congestion, I had no trouble parking by the viewing platform. The US 101 in Oregon is well-worth driving with with stunning coastline views. The Yaquina Bay Bridge was a bonus.  

• From Wikipedia: A brise soleil "is an architectural feature of a building that reduces heat gain within that building by deflecting sunlight."

You're looking at an elaborate sunshade!

The Burke Brise Soleil, and the building it shades, the Quadracci Pavilion, were designed by the celebrated Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, and were completed in 2001. I read somewhere that it's named the "Burke" Brise Soleil after the benefactor who financed the building. I haven't been able to verify that (though I have tried) but it seems a reasonable enough attribution. 

I "discovered" this magnificent structure while on a business trip to Milwaukee a couple of years ago. Heading out of Milwaukee by car I heard on the radio about a photographic exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum: The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip.

I had some time on my hands so I decided to detour. I had never been to the Milwaukee Art Museum, so when I spotted the Burke Brise Soleil rising resplendently above the shores of Lake Michigan, I was at once stunned and delighted.

The photography exhibit was well worth the detour, as was the very large collection of the Milwaukee Art Museum, but it's the Burke Brise Soleil that I will remember most clearly about my impromptu visit. 

A few facts about the Burke Brise Soleil: 

• Wingspan: 217 feet. (I know what you're thinking right now. "How does that compare with the wingspan of a Boeing 747-400?" Answer: the wingspan of a Boeing 747-400 is a mere 211 feet 5 inches)
• The wings fold and unfold twice daily, depending on the weather
• The wings contract automatically whenever the wind gets up to 23 mph

I came across this musician in Boston Public Garden, late in the afternoon of March 11, 2020.

I placed a couple of dollars in his jar and enquired via sign language and facial expression whether I could have permission to take his photo. He obliged. 

I used my Holga 120N equipped with Arista EDU 400 film. I processed the film in Rodinal developer. 

People ask me all the time,...where can you buy film now? I get the Arista film from Freestyle Photo Supply in Los Angeles. They also sell Kodak, Fuji, Fomapan, Cinestill, Ilford and other films. If you have a Samy's Camera near you they have film. Your local independent camera shop probably sells film. By mail order you can get film from numerous sources, including the aforementioned Freestyle (https://www.freestylephoto.biz/)
as well as the Film Photography Project Store (https://filmphotographystore.com/) and other photographic outlets. 

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