Monday clouds

We have had ALL the seasons over these past few days, sometimes two seasons per day!

London is still Londoning

I've been to London on business several times (five?), and have rarely had time to just SOAK in it.  So, as my third city to meet my third friend, pre-Brexit London seemed like a fantastic choice.

Ultimately, she didn't come, but I had a great time, in a mix of hot-to-rainy weather, mostly indoors.

The UK (or at least the British element of it) brings to mind images of tea and teacups, the Queen, British New Wave bands (I can finally visit without having ABC's Tower of London, the Clash's London Calling, or the Smith's Hairdresser on Fire on endless loop in my head), and various other icons from an earlier era. 

Yet, London is an extremely modern, international city, and so I focused this trip on experiencing ultra-modern things: contemporary art by living artists (Studio Olafur Eliasson, whose work is always so fantastic, have a show at the Tate Modern!! YES, I did plan around this!)  , design award shows focused on making the quality of life better for us, and on the constructs that AI systems create, and street art.

There are so many flavors of London to experience!

2019.09.19-23 London, UK

Photos of London, UK by A. Elizabeth Graves

Amsterdam is also lovely

After a lovely time in The Hague, I took the train to Amsterdam. 

I see Amsterdam all of the time in movies much as you likely see my hometown of San Francisco in movies: as a backdrop for international intrigue and the occasional car chase. :)  I was sure that the same few parts of town were always in movies (true!), and wanted to branch out and escape the crowds. 

Happily, I had a German friend with me (CM), and she had always stayed in the tourist core and was ready and eager to branch out and see the shiny NEW districts.  So we had a pleasant set of adventures.

2019.09.13-19 Amsterdam, Netherlands

Photos from a first visit to Amsterdam, Netherlands by A. Elizabeth Graves

The Hague is lovely

Yes, I left my travel-heavy global position at the end of last year, and have been posting LOCAL photos (mostly) since then.  Also, I've used my time off to take care of others after their surgeries, or to have dental surgeries of my own.  (INSERT NUMEROUS SAD FACE EMOJI HERE)  I haven't taken a real vacation all year... until this month!

I wanted to use miles I earned during my business travels to enjoy myself, booked everything in April and May, coordinated my visits with three friends in three different countries... and then the airline I was relying on had a labor dispute, and cancelled my flights. 

I managed to rebook and still take the trip, so I am lucky.

My first stop was The Hague, which has always been famous in my mind for the tribunals where global justice plays out.  It is also a charming city.  Here are some touristy photos from my first visit, during stormy weather.

2019.09.10-13 The Hague (Den Haag), Netherlands

Just over fifty photos taken in The Hague, Netherlands by A.E. Graves

New high rise district anchor

The area around Market and Van Ness streets is getting taller, and in a very shiny way.  I travel in that area now and then, and it is going to change a lot more in the coming years, so I am READY!

And the building with a folder paper boat top

(I realize that only people who folded paper boats will know what I mean, but I'm okay with that.)

Getting used to the new, tall tower

You never realize how much seeing a skyline that matches your memory of it is a habit, until it changes and you keep trying to match what you remember.

I don't mind Salesforce Tower.  I don't.  It just keeps surprising me by being there.

Boxy

It's tempting to be giant and just push them in, to see if they work like buttons.  Or maybe I've just had too much coffee...

Wind (enhanced)

Reflections modified by the wind (and by me desaturating the image and adjusting the contrast, but the wind did the hard work).

Afternoon shadows on the skyline

Before the fog rolled in...

Silver on concrete

How have I not posted photos of this sculpture before? Was I too enamored of the fountain? (Short answer: yes.)

Mission Bay - Black, White, and Gray

I have one more gallery to share today: from another autumn walk, this time in the Mission Bay neighborhood.  Which wasn't a neighborhood when I was growing up: it was an industrial district.  So much has changed...

Contemporary San Francisco in Black, White, and Gray

Monochrome architectural images from San Francisco's Mission Bay District by A.E. Graves

San Francisco's Mission District in Red

I'm sharing selectively from my new WordPress photo site, where I now have some fancier galleries working.  Here is a small collection of images using Lomography Redscale, shot during the fierce sunlight and cold shadows of autumn.

San Francisco's Mission District in Red

The Mission District, my favorite neighborhood, in Lomography Rescale: photographs by A.E. Graves

Infrared Hawaii

I mentioned that I set up a WordPress blog for my fine art photography back in July, but I haven't told you that I have posted to it.  And so, I'll share:

Aloha from (Infrared) Hawaii

Infrared photos from Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, by A.E. Graves

Arc and shadows

I have started another photo blog

No, really.  Not a joke.

I'm trying to show a little more life on my fine art photography portfolio site, where my frivolous photo diary posts here don't quite fit.  Also, I want to share collections easily, without doing lots of coding to get a gallery set up properly.  We'll see if I keep it up! :)

Words About Images at aegraves.com

Posts about photography experiments (also known as play), with a fine art bent by A.E. Graves

So much growth...

When my parents come back to visit, they barely recognize entire neighborhoods, which are changing every week... 

All of this makes me so glad I used to take walks in the mid 00s to photograph warehouses and gravel yards that used to be in this (Mission Bay) area...

New piers

We are getting new piers at the Ferry Building...  it is interesting to watch how they are made.

Like glamorous lungs...

The piece in the SFMoMA Far Out show made me want to learn a bit more about Neri Oxman, who is... many things.  Here is a nice profile from Elle (not where I would expect to go to read about a sculptor/architect with a Ph.D. from MIT):

Neri Oxman Has All the Answers (Elle.com)

The designer and architect Neri Oxman carefully makes her way up the steps to the stage of MIT's Kresge Auditorium. It's late February, and Oxman, a tenured professor at the school who wears a black top, black velvet pants, and high black patent leather stiletto, is nearly seven months pregnant...

Night lights, construction-style

Blue!