One Eleven Sutter, San Francisco

In July, while on a visit to San Francisco, I made a point of seeking out interesting buildings – and other parts of city life – to photograph. Before leaving home, I Googled “San Francisco architectural photography” and discovered Thomas Hawk’s great website, with tons of suggestions. I did visit some of the places he suggested and will share images from them later.

But today’s post is about a building I stumbled upon on my own one afternoon, on my way to meet my son, who works in the Financial District. It’s located at 111 Sutter Street, and while technically its rather pedestrian name is the Hunter-Dulin Building, its provenance is anything but pedestrian. It was originally built in 1926, and the “French Romanesque” entryway fits that description.

Romanesque arches on one side of the entry to the building, elaborately carved in stone.

A carving of Mercury stands at the middle of the two banks of revolving doors at the entry to 111 Sutter Sreet.

With this amazing entry fronting on the street, I couldn’t resist walking in. Inside were even more spectacular sights.

A view back towards the street from the back of the lobby at 111 Sutter.

The ceilings were hand painted, and glorious.

A close up of some of the painted details on the lobby ceiling, framed by a marble column.

Another angle on the ceiling, this one including one of the chandeliers.

The building was renovated and made more earthquake-proof in 1999-2000, but they kindly left one of the old mail chutes in the lobby for visitors to admire.

A non-functioning but gorgeous old mail chute in the lobby.

Internet research reveals that the most famous tenant of the building was Dashiell Hammett’s detective,  Sam Spade.  The lobby alone is so gorgeous I stopped by twice, and the security guard was happy to let me take photographs. My main regret was that the light was very low and I didn’t have a tripod, so most of my DSLR shots were taken while bracing myself against a wall, and even those turned out somewhat blurry. But I trust you’ll get the picture (so to speak).

I’ll close with two shots which I took with my iPhone in a bank just around the corner – which connects with 111 Sutter through their lobbies during the week. Those 1920’s buildings were something, and San Francisco is to be commended for preserving them.

A bank right around the corner from the Hunter Dulin Building is equally spectacular.

My last shot in this bank – I was then halted by bank personnel asking me not to take any more photos for security reasons. So I won’t identify the bank – but its architecture was stunning.

The National Sculpture Garden

Recently I ventured into downtown DC (something I hope to do more frequently next year when I take early retirement), camera in hand, to visit the East Wing, the National Gallery, and the National Sculpture Garden. I saw a wonderful exhibit at the East Wing, “Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes,” which has enchanting costumes and film clips of revivals of some of the ballets from that time. (Barishnikov! Nureyev! But I digress . . .)

My afternoon ended with a stroll through the National Sculpture Garden, full of amazing works of art, carefully manicured shrubs, large trees and some annuals, and a large fountain great for people-watching. Here are some of the images I captured. Plan a visit on your next trip to Washington!

With the National Archives visible in the background, “Four Sided Pyramid” (foreground) and “Thinker on a Rock” (right mid-ground) vie for attention as you enter the Sculpture Garden from the Mall side.

Chair Transformation No. 208 (1966) by Lucas Samaras is fascinating from any angle.

Vitex agnus-castus and coleus add color to beds in front of the Garden’s large water fountain.

David Smith’s “Cubi XI” in another area of the National Sculpture Garden

In front of “Four Sided Pyramid,” white anemones provide a soft contrast to the angular, static sculpture in the background.

“Graft” by Roxy Paine is a stainless steel and concrete sculpture of a fantastic looking tree.

Another perspective on “Graft.” This sculpture is enormous!

Mandevilla adorn the side of the cafe adjacent to the fountain. In the winter, there’s ice skating here!

My favorite sculpture, for years, is this: “Typewriter Eraser, Scale X,” by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen (1999). But maybe that’s just because I’m old enough to remember typewriters!

Powell Street Promenade

In July I headed to the Bay Area for a few days, camera in hand, to visit one of my sons. I had one full day, and several mornings, to devote to photography in and around where I was staying – the Union Square area of San Francisco. Yup, near all those “little cable cars.”

The cable cars’ routes include one up and down Powell Street, turning around at the BART station of the same name. iPhone photo via Hipstamatic.

I was planning primarily to shoot architectural sights while there (and some of those will be featured in a later post). Imagine my surprise when right outside my door was an innovative landscape project by Walter Hood, the Powell Street Promenade.

Underwritten by Audi at a cost of $890,000, the Promenade consists of eight six-foot-wide “parklets,” carved out of traffic lanes and abutting the sidewalk.  Given the huge numbers of tourists travelling Powell Street on a regular basis, having an attractive, protected spot to step out of the flow of people and chat with friends, sit down for a bit, or park your bike while you make a call or stop in a store is a great idea.

These aluminum structures can be used as little tables for a snack or to rest your packages on.

A bike rider takes a break to chat with a friend on the Promenade.

There are a few built-in benches, which always seemed in high demand.

A pedestrian takes a break, out of the flow of the constant sidewalk traffic.

All of the structures are fabricated from aluminum, which forms “rail ribbons.” They include planters with narrow borders that can double as a seating area in a pinch (I recognized a few plants such as Mexican heather and Yucca, others were not familiar to my East Coast eyes), guardrails to protect against the busy Powell Street traffic, and the “tables” and lower versions that Hood has suggested could be used for sleeping as well as sitting benches. No advertising is allowed in the areas, which boast free Wi-Fi. (How very Silicon Valley!)

For more details on this project, check out this blog post from the San Francisco outpost of Streetsblog. And the next time you’re in the City by the Bay, in the vicinity of Union Square, be sure not to miss this innovative design feature on Powell Street!

Love Letter to the Live Oaks

The first time I visited Charleston for a photography workshop, in 2009, I didn’t fully appreciate the grandeur of the live oaks (Quercus virginiana) that seemed to be everywhere. Spanish moss dripped from many of their branches, and even wisteria could be seen rambling through them along the roadside. This year, the oaks themselves became actors in the scenes I saw, and I came away quite overwhelmed with their size, appearance, and place in the landscape.

The largest and most stunning specimen we saw was Angel Oak, located on Johns Island near Charleston. The City of Charleston has owned both the park where it is located and the tree  (which is estimated to be between 400 and 500 years old) since 1991.

Angel Oak (or most of it) on Johns Island.

The day we visited, there were a moderate number of visitors around. You’re asked not to climb on the tree, set up tripods under its canopy, or walk around in  high heels, so the root area is protected (I didn’t see anyone wearing heels!) So we stayed back a respectful distance. Some of our group shot panos, while I stuck with an HDR approach to capture the image above. But I think I like it in black and white (below) almost as much.

The same image of Angel Oak, rendered in black and white with an infrared treatment in Nik’s Silver Efex Pro.

Another destination of ours, Old Sheldon Church in Beaufort County, is the ruined remains of a stone and brick church surrounded by live oaks. We were there in the late morning, so the light wasn’t the greatest. Since I didn’t have an infrared camera, I made do by shooting and color and converting to black and white to minimize problems with the strong light. Without the surround oaks to add an air of mystery, I think the scene would have been far less interesting.

Live oaks surround the ruins of the Old Sheldon Church.

A short drive away, our leaders took us to photograph the live oaks lining the drive to a private home, Tomotley Plantation. Before we set off, Alan and Colleen stressed that we would be photographing on private property, and that the gates might be closed or we might need to leave if the owners asked us to. Since returning, I’ve done a little on line research and read that the owners are quite gracious about photographers. We didn’t linger too long, but what we saw was beautiful indeed.

Tomotley Plantation’s allee of live oaks, viewed from the side.

The line of live oaks was apparently planted in 1820. The original plantation, burned by Sherman’s troops, was rebuilt in the late 1800’s. The view down the driveway from the front gates (kindly left open by the owners), was gorgeous. With no wind to disturb the moss on the oaks, we shot to our hearts’ content.

Looking down the allee of live oaks at Tomotley Plantation

It was at our last stop on the trip, Middleton Place, that I found myself once again appreciating the beauty of these trees in a more “garden-like” setting. Their majestic size and the way their branches bend and arch make them a perfect foil for a waterside setting.

Live oaks leaning over a pond at Middleton Plantation

And in a more intimate setting, their presence lends just the right air of mystery and enclosure.

Live oaks and Spanish moss sheltering a bench and statue at Middleton Place

For more information about live oaks, including their usefulness in shipbuilding in the past, check out the article in Wikipedia. And if you have an opportunity to visit Charleston or other Southern states, keep an eye out for them in the landscape. They’re quite a sight to behold.