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While I was in college, I bought my first art book, a collection of the works of Maurits Cornelis (M. C.) Escher.

Taken in an alley in Montreal, this image made me think of Escher’s use of stairs to create impossible scenes, as shown in Relativity and Ascending and Descending.

Escher was a master at constructing these perspectives and using them to create the illusion of three or more dimensions on a two-dimensional medium.  This is something that photographers, constrained to creating two-dimensional images, constantly strive for.

I should have paid closer attention to where the stairs and metal platforms in this image lead.

The “looking up” perspective (see my collection of looking up images) has obscured the purpose of the structure, creating a hint of mystery for the viewer.

I’m intrigued – and a little confused – by the doors that open to stairs that then lead up.  This doesn’t seem logical for a fire escape.

Unless it was designed by M. C. Escher.

Contrast – “The state of being strikingly different from something else in juxtaposition or close association.”

 Singapore’s distinctively unique Helix Bridge and the Marina Bay Sands complex stand in stark contrast to the bridges and buildings in Prague, shown in my previous post – The Five Bridges.

Both cities have storied histories.  The preserved old town of Prague makes it a sought-after tourist destination, just as the futuristic, modern design of the structures in Singapore is part of what draws tourists to that great city-state.

The Helix, as it is officially called, opened in 2010 to complete the walking path around the Marina Bay.  The bridge’s unique design is meant to emulate the DNA structure.  It even has a nucleotide sequence built into the bridge deck.

The Marina Bay Sands is a truly impressive hotel and casino.  I can’t decide if I think it’s meant to look more like a flying boat or a walking six-legged (reportedly soon to become eight-legged) creature.  The deck on the northern end of the SkyPark, the largest public cantilevered platform in the world, offers unequaled views of Singapore’s skyline, Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay and the shipping anchored in Singapore Straight.

Wear light, breathable cloths and bring water with you if you plan to take the walk around the bay as it’s seemingly always hot and humid in Singapore.  The walk, even with the resulting sticky clothes, is worth the opportunity to see these and Singapore’s many other unique attractions.

Certain places are so over exposed, so over-represented on travel and photography sites that there is a danger photographers will overlook these views while seeking more unique perspectives.

There’s a spot in Letná Park, not fair from the Prague Metronome, where the grass has been worn down to a dirt patch by photographers and tourists seeking one of these pictures – the Prague Five Bridges shot.

It’s understandable why so many climb a couple hundred steps up the steep embankment to take in that view.  It is a beautiful perspective of the enchanting old City of 100 Spires.

The five bridges include the Karlův most (Charles Bridge), a unique pedestrian bridge decorated by 30 statues.  It connects Prague’s Staré Město pražské (Old Town) with the Menší Město pražské (Lessor Town).  Lessor Town is also known as Malá Strana (Little Side) and includes many interesting places for photographers and tourists alike, including the Pražský hrad (Prague Castle).

I’ve made that trek multiple times.  The most enjoyable was in the late afternoon, most likely on a Saturday.  My wife and I enjoyed a cold brew at the beer garden near the Metronome while we waited for the sun to set.  It was a beautiful evening, made more dramatic by the lights of the city and the tourist boats navigating their way through and around those bridges. 

I was happy to make my contribution toward keeping that dirt patch grass free.

The nymph, wearing the golden chaplet and raising the golden torch, frames the Eiffel Tower, which is transformed into golden beauty by the golden sunset over the Seine in golden Paris.

The name for this image came easily for me.

Getting this image didn’t.

I had a free afternoon for sightseeing at the end of a business trip to Paris.  I decided to end it by walking along the Seine from the Ile da la Cite and the pre fire Notre Dame, to the Louvre.  My goal was to take a picture of the sun setting behind the Arc de Triomphe.

I was already tired by the time I started that walk and it was getting late. I hurried to get to the Arc to capture the best colors of the sunset.  I must’ve been distracted as I went past the Louvre, thinking the Arc was closer to Pont Alexandre III.  Upon arriving at that beautiful bridge, crestfallen, I realized my mistake. 

Being out of time and too tired to make it back to the Arc, I decided to apply the “turn lemons into lemonade” philosophy, setting my tripod up near the nymph while enjoying the beautiful golden sunset over the majestic city.

Sometimes, lemonade can be very satisfying.

In the world before plastics, toys were made of wood, metals, rubber and cloth.

This tractor is made of cast iron and was one of my father’s toys.  It was likely manufactured in the 1920s or 1930s.  It must have been a favorite, given the level of wear and tear.

The magic of still photography allows me to hide the unfortunate reality that the farmer and far-side portion of the tractor are severed from the remainder of the toy. It’s as if the farmer was cut from his left shoulder to his left leg by a great broadsword. The wheel is held onto the tractor by the rear axle, which must have been strong enough to stop the sword’s momentum.

Or maybe it was an attack by Electron Man, the culmination of a great battle in a corn field between The Brave Farmer and the conquering alien from another planet.  The battle resulted in the farmer being frozen in place with the constant threat that any movement would result in his left side falling to the ground.

There are those who long for the days when toys were made of more substantial materials than the hallowed out and lightweight toys often found on the shelves of shops in this age of plastics.  However, whether made of plastic or cast iron, the battles between The Brave Farmer and Electron Man still occur in the minds of the young and, thankfully, not so young.

Now I need to find that glue so The Brave Farmer can save the world from Electron Man.  The battle will be epic.

There’s a natural tension between the need to preserve history and the need to make progress.  A tension between culture and commerce.

In my hometown of Dallas, the needs of commerce generally win.  Historical buildings are often sacrificed to make room for modern glass-encased structures like those shown in “X Marks the Spot”.

I was surprised to learn that the majestic St. Pancras train station – where someone wanting to get to Paris in under two-and-a-half hours would board the Eurostar service in London for a ride through the Channel Tunnel – was targeted in the 1960s for a similar fate as old buildings in Dallas.

The Channel Tunnel, also known as the Chunnel, is an engineering feat.  Imagine high-speed train service between two of the more amazing cities in the world, through a tunnel under the English Channel.

Thankfully, preservationists stepped in and, as a result, St. Pancras and its accompanying hotel are now a bustling part of one of London’s many cultural centers, sitting between King’s Cross Station and The British Library.

I love train stations.  I love the unique architecture.  I love the history.  I love the planning required to make train stations functional.  I love the logistical accomplishment of keeping trains moving.  I love trains as a form of transportation. 

Maybe it’s the sheer number of train stations is why Europe is one of my favorite destinations.

Humankind continues to reach for the sky, building structures to maximize the space utilization in areas identified as centers of commerce.

The higher they’re built, and the more of them clustered together, the more they project the importance and success of that particular patch of land.

This image was taken at what I’d consider an important center of commerce – Frankfurt, Germany.  It shows a view common to virtually all of these city centers.  It just requires risking a crick in the neck to see it.

“Looking-up” images such as this are often enhanced by the presence of clouds or something else to make the sky more interesting (One Way, Reflected History).  That’s not the case in this picture; instead, I think the clear sky helps to emphasize the buildings’ modern architecture.

It’s as if these buildings are gathered to discuss the latest move in the markets or to speculate on the future of the dollar versus the euro.  The architecture reflects the business that takes place inside of those buildings, dressing them in their most conservative, sharpest business attire for each day’s important meetings. 

Would you go out of your way to visit an island named for universally hated rodents with long tails, seemingly razor-sharp teeth and beady, glow-in-the-dark eyes?

You should.

It’as a beautiful place.  And, thankfully, it’s misnamed.  The Dutch named the island ‘t Eylandt ‘t Rottenest (“Rats’ Nest Island“) in the late 1600s under the mistaken belief that the native marsupial was actually a large rat.  Quokkas are actually quite friendly and are part of what makes Rottness Island – referred to as Rotto by the locals – such a unique place.

The car-free island is just off the coast of Western Australia – literally on the other side of the planet from my home city of Dallas – and is a must-see for anyone traveling to Perth.  It is a short 30-minute ferry ride from Freemantle, and is surrounded by most beautiful, swimmable, turquoise water at its sixty-three beaches.

I write this during the pandemic of 2020 that has effectively halted international travel.  I have mixed feeling about being grounded.  The ability to experience, and photograph, unique places like Perth and reinforces for me just how much people all over the world have in common and, as such, how small of a planet we live on.  And then I think about the 24-hour flight time to get from Dallas to Perth, and I am reminded the world’s vastness.

In the end, the ability to experience different cultures, different people, different attractions makes those multi-hour flights worthwhile.  Especially when you can get a selfie with a Quokka (remember to bring your selfie stick) on a beautiful island in the Indian Ocean.

It’s a river that flows through some breathtakingly beautiful stretches of central Europe.

It’s the second longest river in Europe, and it played a historically significant role as the northern boundary of the Roman Empire.

It’s a river dotted with the remains of castles such as the one in Durnstein, in the Wachau region of Austria, where Richard the Lionheart was held captive by Leopold V, Duke of Austria.

And it’s the river that splits the Buda and the Pest areas of the Hungarian capital.

We only had a couple of cloudy and rainy days in Budapest, but it wasn’t difficult to find inspiring pictures of the grand river and of the striking architecture that pushes up to the river’s banks. 

This portion of the Danube is one of the more awe-inspiring stretches of river cutting through a major city in the world.  Yes, the Vltava in Prague, the Thames in London and the Seine in Paris (picture coming soon) are similarly impressive, but the Danube in Budapest more than holds its own.

The Sun Life Building in downtown Montreal, was built in three phases, starting around 1913 and finishing with the twenty-four-story tower in 1931.

The Beaux-Arts style building, reflected here in a modern, glass building (which has a very Dallas look) is one of many architecturally interesting structures in Montreal.

Having long held the distinction of being the largest building in the British Empire, The Sun Life Building is currently the seventeenth tallest in Montreal.  It has some interesting history as well: Multiple European countries stored their gold and securities in its cellars during the World War II.

This picture is one of my “looking up” images, a collection resulting from my goal of exploring cities from a different perspective. 

I particularly like the contrast between the classical architecture of the Sun Life Building and the modern building that’s showcasing the beautiful reflection.

It was a bonus that the sun was peaking over the corner of the building while I was capturing the image.