Architects of Air – the use of light and color

A few months back a friend ask if I would like to meet her and her boys downtown Houston for the Architects of Air, temporary display.  I had no idea what it was about but I grabbed my camera, plugged in the GPS coordinates and was down at the discovery green, across from the convention center in less than 45 minutes.  I am always up for a new adventure and when I saw my photos I was ecstatic that I’d said yes. 

Sitting out in the middle of the green was a huge, somewhat ugly, unassuming blown-up balloon. 

 

After standing in line to pay, then again waiting our turn to enter as another group left; we entered the greeting area, sat on a bench to remove our shoes, to leave them out on the shelves, and we entered the Air Space.  I don’t think the little boys thought much of ‘THE Space hidden inside but I was enthralled.   They ran around and around glad to have escaped their shoes and their mother. 

I walked from one area, one color to the next, sat on the floor, look at the ceiling, turned in circles and took photos that I had no idea how to insure that they would come out, would convey the joy that being cocooned in this warm light and bright color brought me.  The ultimate high for a photographer. 

       

       

for more information  Architects of Air

Missouri City Fire Department

I know, I know I am late at posting the Friday Shoot Out photos, but not too late because in Houston it is only 9:30 pm, I actually have 2.5 more hours of Friday left to get myself in gear.  This topic was one of my suggestions so I had an idea from the beginning where I wanted to go with it, then, frankly, I got chicken and it took me until this morning to ask if I could go inside a fire station with my camera.   What I really wanted was some  firemen hunks sitting around their dinner table, washing dishes with a dishtowel around their waste, trucks being washed down out behind the firehouse, and trucks being loaded while the fire bells rang….. you get the idea, a real close-up of how the firemen spend their time away from family and friends.  What I got was one very nice, polite young man (yes a fireman) sedately showing me the garage area, the biggest truck and all the rest of the firemen were out on a call.  I did get a few shots of truck, somewhat confined photos, no heart throbbing excitement, but it was my own fault for waiting to the last minute to get my photos. Maybe I can ask for a second chance; I would love following around for a day.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Lost focus for a minute there,  a Harley, nothing is as beautiful. I seriously considered begging a ride.  I had the good sense to stop short of embarrassing myself.   A Grandmother with a broken arm….. really.

 

 

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and back from their run later in the day…..

see you next week. 

go here for more emergency vehicle shots from around the globe.  http://mytownshootout.blogspot.com/

It is just in a word

When I suggested this topic I had been traveling across the Midwest and visiting in the small town Adrian, Michigan for nearly a month.  I had seen the small interior gardens of New Orleans, the sprawling farmlands surrounding the Indiana and Michigan farms, and the small compact spaces filled with flowers that make up Adrian’s front spaces.  And I thought, with us all spread throughout the world, how do you think of your front space?

In Brasil, the total space around your house is a Jardim (garden), if you have an area for vegetables, herbs or fruit, that space usually fenced to separate it from the Jardim is a ‘horto’.  If there is a translation for horto, given what it is used for, it would have to be a garden.  English not being as rich in words that distinguish as Portuguese.  In England and Scotland, in the cities that I visited, there were rows and row, street after street of homes that all looked alike except for the color of the front door and what was planted in the front garden.  In the small villages of France and Italy there are often no front space, the front walls and doors butt right up to the sidewalk.  The few home that I have been in had beautiful gardens behind the walls; filled with flowers and pools, benches and walkways. 

Here in Texas, and more specifically Missouri City, there are yards.  The older the home the bigger the yard.  Some are more landscaped than others but generally the effort being made is to fit into your neighborhood.  The landscaping can be pretty extensive, sophisticated, structured.  There is not normally an area to sit and enjoy the ‘evening air in the garden’ that is left up to the fence backyard were you will find wood decks, swimming pools, wide areas of lawn and the dogs. 

 

 

 

Now that I have thought about it a bit, whether you have a front yard or a front garden has more to do with language than it does how we use it. how it is planted, how we decorate the space in front of our homes.