The Wandering Photographer

Walking Bilbao II

Last week I posted some photos from a walking tour of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Northern Spain. Today I thought I would post a few more.

While walking in the old sector we came across this wedding party. Since they were posing for pictures anyway I thought I'd snap one of my own.

Windows and doorways, especially in old cities, make for fascinating subjects. The rich detail and workmanship is always worth photographing.

Leaving the old sector we came upon this scene. This is the Universidad de Duesto a Jesuit institution of higher learning founded in 1886. The Jesuits wanted to bring a center of learning to the Basque Country, home of their founder, Ignatius of Loyola.

Finally, after all of the old buildings, we come to the river and the spectacular Frank Gehry designed Guggenheim Museum. This museum of modern art has helped to revitalize this post-industrial city. It draws visitors from around the world. 

Bilbao is a city of wonderful contrast. Old and new as well as industrial and artsy. All-in-all this is a city worthy of a visit.

Next, more images from the Basque Country of Spain and France.

© 2010 Tim Marks all rights reserved

A Photo Walk around Grand Valley State University

I attended Grand Valley State for the 1972/3 and ‘73/4 academic years (back then it was called Grand Valley State Colleges). I left in ’74 and didn’t finish my BA until the 90s at Wayne State but I have a soft spot in my heart for the GVSC (oops GVSU) Lakers.

 I had a chance to return to campus this past summer. Took an hour or so to walk around, make some images and bask in nostalgia.

Lake Michigan Hall was one of the original 1960s buildings on campus. I had a number of classes there.

The original dorms were built to conform to the shape of a ravine that traversed and split the campus. Navigating the halls of this squiggly building after returning from the bar was difficult.

The ravine bisected the campus. You had to cross this bridge to get from the dorms to class.

Not all of the buildings are old. This is the Student Services Center. It wasn’t there when I was hangin’ out.

There are a number of sculptures on campus.

I spent way too much time lying in the sun next to this pond and not near enough in the library just beyond it.

As I walked to the far end of campus I was dismayed to see that they were tearing down my apartment from my first year there. Probably not a bad thing though, since I seem to remember that it was condemned when I lived in it.

 Well it was good to be on campus again and see all the changes. GVSU, You’ve come a long way baby.”

 © 2009 Tim Marks all rights reserved

Going Back to College: Update

I promised I’d write occasional updates about my adventure returning to graduate school at Wayne State University after all these years. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am returning to finish a Masters in History that I started about ten years ago. Well, it’s been about two weeks now and there are things to report.

You may have noticed that I didn’t write a blog post last week. Frankly the workload is larger than I expected and I just didn’t have time to write anything. It appears that this blog is going to drop to one or two posts per week, most likely a post on Wednesday and, with any luck, a Photo Friday post. The blog will still be photography centered but I will try to write a monthly blog post about my experiences at school. 

 Getting back into the academic world has been both interesting and a bit frightening. The first thing that happened was that one of the classes that I registered for was cancelled and I had to find something else to take. Fortunately I found another course that, it turns out, should be very interesting and valuable. Originally I planned to take a course in “Colonial America” and a second course in the “Early American Republic”. The Early Republic course was cancelled but I was able to replace it with a class in “Women in U.S. Life and Thought.” I’m really excited about both classes.

The “Women” class is particularly interesting because it is from a field of study (Women’s History) that barely existed when I first went off to college in 1971. Certainly if there was such a class available it would not be near as rich and complete as this one seems to be so far. The “Colonial” presents a lot of new scholarship and a brand new way of looking at the colonial world. Far from being stagnant the study of history is rich and diverse. I especially enjoy being able to study a subject in-depth instead of in a rushed survey that are common at the undergraduate level. 

The one thing that gives me pause is the need to get back into very serious writing. Between the two courses I have to write six short papers and two quite extensive ones. All together they will likely total in excess of 10,000 words. It has been a long time since I have written a long and serious paper and I know these papers are going to take some time, if for no other reason than that I am out of practice (you can probably tell from this run on sentence). I’m actually happy that I have the six short ones to do first, since they will allow me to get back into the real writing mode.

I am really pleased to be on campus during the day as it allows me access to opportunities for more informal educational experiences. Many free lectures and presentations are available and both students and faculty take advantage of them. Last week I had the chance to attend a mini-seminar presented by Rogers Smith PhD. of the University of Pennsylvania. We had the opportunity to discuss Dr. Smith’s paper delving into Equality and Differentiated Citizenship. Being able to sit around a table with fellow students and faculty from different departments having an intelligent discourse about important issues is a gratifying experience.  I intend to take advantage of as many of these opportunities as I can.

All in all it has been a pretty good start. I am thoroughly enjoying myself, and I am feeling pretty good about this adventure.

© 2009 Tim Marks all rights reserved

Photographing History: Fort Sumter

The state of South Carolina officially seceded and joined the Confederacy on December 26, 1860.   Subsequently South Carolina demanded that the United States evacuate Fort Sumter, located near the entrance to Charleston Harbor.  Those demands were ignored and an attempt to resupply the fort in January was repulsed by the Confederates. 

In April, the U.S. again began an attempt to resupply.  Confederate forces in Charleston again demanded the fort’s surrender and again the demand was refused.  On April 12, 1861 Confederate artillery in Charleston laid siege on the fort.  The bombardment lasted for at least 34 straight hours and finally led to the surrender of the fort to the Confederate forces.  Thus began hostilities in the war that would change America forever.

Today, when you visit the fort you see period artillery, a display of flags that have flown over the fort and what remains of the fort walls.  As you can see from the above photo, sea shells were incorporated into walls to add reinforcement.

This is the view for the fort today overlooking modern Charleston Harbor with the excursion boat and the, very modern, Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in the distance.

General William T. Sherman forced the Confederates to abandon Charleston in February 1865 and Federal troops again occupied the fort.  After the war the, largely destroyed, fort was mostly unused.  A small garrison manned the fort during World War I and again during World War II.  After the war the fort eventually became a U.S. National Monument.  Today the fort is administered by the National Park Service and is open to visitors.  The story of the fort is important and the site is well worth a visit.

© Tim Marks all rights reserved  

Photo Friday: Sand Sculpture at Arts Festival

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about shooting photos at local music and arts festivals.  For today’s Photo Friday I thought I would show off a couple of shots of sand sculptures in progress at the  2005 and 2006 Festivals of the Arts in the Detroit Cultural Center. 

The artists create the intricate sculpture on site during the three day festival (the festival is on hiatus this year but will return in 2010) finishing up on Sunday afternoon.  It is always one of the most intriguing and popular exhibitions at the festival.

Nikon D100,  Tamron 24-135mm f3.5-5.6 @ 95mm,  ISO 100,  1/500 @ f/5.6

Here is a shot of the artists working on the sculpture (from the 2006 Festival).  As you can see they work with trowels and water to form the sand into the finished work of art.

Nikon CoolPix 8800,  Integrated Zoom @ 15mm,  ISO 100,  1/140 @ f/6.3

Here the (2005) sculpture is close to finished.  Looks like the Pirates are looking to bury their stolen treasure.  That skull ought to keep any rival pirates away! :)

Nikon CoolPix 8800,  Integrated Zoom @ 53mm,  ISO 100,  1/125 @ f/6.7

A closer view of one of the figures in the finished product.  You can see why this is so popular with everyone, especially the kids.

Thanks to Debbie of Delicious Baby for organizing Photo Friday and spreading such wonderful images across the Web.

© Tim Marks 2009

Photographing My Alma Mater

I am returning to school this fall to finish a master’s in history that I began a decade ago.  Thinking about that one morning I decided to head over to the school to shoot some pictures and get re-acclimated to campus (I earned my bachelor’s degree there).  Wayne State University, while it has a long and proud history, is not a campus of quaint 19^th century buildings.  WSU saw its greatest growth after World War II and therefore the buildings tend to be of a more recent vintage.  Some of them are rather boring but there is plenty of interesting and photogenic architecture. 

Nikon D300,  Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 @ 18mm,  ISO 200,  1/250 @ f/11

This shot is the typical college brochure shot.  Nothing spectacular but I think it gives a good idea of what an urban campus is like.

Nikon D300,  Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 @ 35mm,  ISO 200,  1/250 @ f/11

This one is a view of the College of Education with a sculpture/medallion of “Mad Anthony” Wayne.  The university and the county in which it sits were named after the Revolutionary War General. 

Nikon D300,  Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 @ 32mm,  ISO 200,  1/30 @ f/11

Like most universities. Wayne State has the many pieces of art spread around the campus.  Of note is a statue of Antione De La Mothe Cadillac, the founder of Detroit, and a modern sculpture by the local artist Tyree Guyton.  This sculpture is Wings of Learning by G. Alden Smith.  It sits next to the Fitness Center.  You can find a WSU ArtWalk Brochure here.

Nikon D300,  Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 @ 100mm,  ISO 200,  1/500 @ f/11

This photograph of the College of Engineering shows an example of some of the more recent architecture on the campus.  Wayne is a major research university and is well known for its engineering expertise.

All-in-all I spent a worthwhile few hours walking around a pleasant campus, getting reacquainted and acquiring a few pretty good images.  Not a bad afternoon. 

© Tim Marks 2009