Photography

Pictures of Cities

March 11th, 2010 |

Seattle Public Library

Gotta love Seattle for its street art and sculpture. Of course, there are some who say the buildings themselves are works of art…take our Seattle Public Library as an example. The building is quite unusual and walking through it is an experience in and of itself. But more about that in another post….

Urban life, city streets, architecture and art, cracked and broken sidewalks, trees and flowers: These are just a few of my favorite things to photograph. I thought I would share a few photos here of Seattle. We are so very lucky to live in a city with an abundance of art right out on the street. I sometimes think Seattle has more street art per block than any other city I have visited. I have even overlooked, on occasion, art until I have walked passed it and suddenly realized the art was incorporated right into the structure of the building I was passing.

Take for instance the entry to the building on the corner of 2nd Avenue South and South Jackson Street. The building houses the Metro Transit Offices. The gates that form the entry to the building are also the security gates when closed at night. They are named the Rainforest Gates (painted steel) created by Jean Whitesavage and Nick Lyle in 1999.

Rainforest Gates

: Piece of the Rainforest Gates

The plaque for the gates says,

the imagery used in the forged steel is taken from the plants and animals found in Pacific Northwest rain forests. Hundreds of pieces of iron work are woven together to express the beauty and harmony of the web of life, alluding to the process of co-evolution that brings billions of individual creatures together in the intricate dance that we call an ecosystem….

The artists think of their sculpture as a kind of visual poetry; rather than simply imitating nature, they create artwork that speaks the language of living things through the medium of steel. It is one of my favorite pieces to shoot as it reflects the light differently depending on the time of day I am there. It is a fun piece of art.