I am taking a course called Sensing Place: Photography as Inquiry. Our first assignment was to take pictures that show how light affects the landscape. I chose the courtyard in the Boston Public Library as my site because it is one of my favorite places in Boston. We reviewed the assignment today and I thought you might enjoy seeing the photos I turned in.

A classic courtyard with a very pleasant fountain in the center.

I ran out of the house on Saturday afternoon when sunlight began to pour through my south facing window (after days of cloudy skies). Would have been nice to get a series of these shots throughout the day, but the sun didn’t really cooperate.

A wonderful pillar supported arcade surrounds the central courtyard.

I was sitting about 20 feet away from this guy when I noticed that he had positioned himself perfectly to get sunlight on his body, while his face stayed comfortably in the shade. I couldn’t figure out how to get a picture that would tell the story, but finally managed to crawl up on a second story window sill and hover with camera directly above the guy.

On any given day you can expect to find a number of people sitting, eating, reading, or utilizing the free wi-fi.

Taken from inside the library with the courtyard visible through the window. The light marble surfaces of the grand staircase shine bright as the sun pours through the southwest facing windows.

Back in Boston and in the middle of the first week of classes. Sorry for the dearth of posts recently, but I am getting back into the swing of things and will try to pick it up.

While school takes away a lot of my free time, it does provide a never ending list of things to blog about. For instance, one of my professors reminded me of the work done by Alex Maclean. Alex is a trained architect that paid his way through school by getting his pilot’s license and taking aerial pictures. Ultimately this became his career and he has a special eye for capturing the American landscape from the air.

Check out some of his amazing work at his website: http://www.alexmaclean.com

Also, he has started an archive of images more related to planning and urban design at: http://landslides.com/