Art Students

Outside the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in the old post office building in Portland.

Looking at Pictures

One of my favorite subjects for photos is people looking at art. First Thursday in Portland's Pearl District, when new exhibits are on display and lots of people turn out to see them, is a wonderful opportunity to take such photos. Here are four from yesterday. The first is a painting by Michael Knudson at Blackfish Gallery. The other three are by Jac Chartier at Elizabeth Leach Gallery.

Color in the Pearl

Having just posted a blog asserting that buildings in the Pearl District are mainly drab and colorless, I feel that I must post a counter-example: the newly built Residence Inn by Marriott. Its bright yellow sticks out like a sore thumb, but yields some nice visuals.

Foliage in the City

The Pearl District in Portland is mainly gray or brown concrete, with some glass and steel high-rises thrown into the mix, enlivened more by people than by colorful architecture. But there is some softening by vegetation: ground plantings and small trees.

Construction Update

A few views of the current state of the big construction project across from our condo. The below-ground structure is gradually filling in, with steel plates over what used to be bare concrete. And the pillars seem shorter, as the base level rises. Impressive work.

Hard and Soft

One of the things I find intriguing about Portland's Pearl District is the juxtaposition of hard, gritty concrete and iron with soft grasses and flowers, both cultivated and growing wild. Here are two photos at the same apartment building, one with the support structures of the Fremont Bridge in the background and a freight train passing by, the other with wild grasses in front of the building courtyard.

The Bridge Behind

The Fremont Bridge carries I-405 across the Willamette River in Portland. It's the most modern of the auto bridges in Portland (the more recent Tillikum Bridge is for light rail, bikes, and pedestrians only) and is the only auto bridge that is likely to survive the predicted Cascadian Subduction earthquake. It marks the north end of the Pearl District, and is a graceful background in photos of that area, where construction of apartment buildings is beginning.

Its visibility from so many different viewpoints reminds me of Saint Louis & The Arch, the fine book by Joel Meyerowitz.