Clueless in Boston

Parkman Bandstand

2012-02-02T06:03:00.001-05:00

The Parkman Bandstand was built in 1912 from a design by Derby, Robinson & Shephard at a cost of $1 million. Named for George F. Parkman, the bandstand was constructed following his death in 1908, in honor of a $5 million donation he had willed for the care of the Boston Common and other city parks. Parkman was the son of George Parkman, a doctor who had donated land for Harvard Medical School's first campus a few years before his murder and dismemberment at the hands of Harvard Medical School professor John Webster in 1849. In 1996, the bandstand was restored and is used today for concerts, rallies, and speeches.

Wednesday Doorway

2012-02-01T05:10:00.000-05:00

This week's doorway can be found on Commonwealth Ave.

Sunny Wintry Day

2012-01-31T21:31:00.001-05:00

2012-01-30T21:09:00.000-05:00

Looking up Beacon Street.

Blowing Off Some Steam

2012-01-28T06:41:00.015-05:00

Steam being vented from the back of the Parker House.

Reflections

2012-01-27T04:43:00.008-05:00

Looking into the dining room at No. 9 Park.

Old Granary Burial Ground

2012-01-26T05:24:00.010-05:00

Founded in 1660, the Granary Burying Ground is the city's third-oldest cemetery. Located on Tremont Street, it is the final resting place for many notable Revolutionary War-era patriots, including three signers of the Declaration of Independence, Paul Revere and the five victims of the Boston Massacre. The cemetery has 2,345 graves, but historians estimate as many as 5,000 people are buried in it. The cemetery is adjacent to Park Street Church and immediately across from Suffolk University Law School. More at Wikipedia.

Wednesday Doorway

2012-01-25T05:30:00.001-05:00

Winter Scene

2012-01-24T06:56:00.000-05:00

Lines

2012-01-23T10:38:00.003-05:00

Trash bird

2012-01-22T16:37:00.000-05:00

Frog Pond Skating Rink

2012-01-20T20:53:00.000-05:00

One of the few times I've seen the ice being cleared manually.

Happy Face

2012-01-19T05:58:00.000-05:00

Wednesday Doorway

2012-01-18T05:22:00.007-05:00

North End Harbor Walk

2012-01-17T05:52:00.004-05:00

Eyes on the World

2012-01-16T05:29:00.003-05:00

Ski Mad

2012-01-15T06:06:00.011-05:00

The car's license plate says it all.

Brick Building

2012-01-14T06:01:00.004-05:00

In the North End.

Masts

2012-01-13T06:52:00.001-05:00

Cakeology

2012-01-12T05:50:00.000-05:00

Wednesday Doorway

2012-01-11T05:42:00.005-05:00

This week's doorway is in the Charlestown section of Boston.

Warren Tavern

2012-01-10T00:08:00.001-05:00

Another view of the Bunker Hill Monument down the street by the Warren Tavern.

Bunker Hill Monument

2012-01-09T05:24:00.006-05:00

The Bunker Hill Monument stands 221 feet tall at Breed's Hill, the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution fought on June 17, 1775.

Iron Lanterns

2012-01-08T06:01:00.005-05:00

Iron Lanterns on Beacon Hill.

Benches

2012-01-07T07:40:00.000-05:00

Seaport Bridge

2012-01-06T10:31:00.002-05:00

Reflections

2012-01-05T09:43:00.002-05:00

Wednesday Doorway

2012-01-04T12:27:00.002-05:00

This week's doorway can be found at the Children's Museum.

Fort Point Channel Bridge

2012-01-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

Fort Point Channel

2012-01-02T12:40:00.003-05:00

2011 Photo of the Year

2012-01-01T15:08:00.000-05:00

Theme Day for the City Daily Photo Blog community is best photo of last year.
One of my favorite photos of 2011 is this one I took in the Public Garden last May.
To view other photos click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Hatch Shell

2011-12-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

Skywatch Friday

2011-12-16T00:29:00.001-05:00

Footbridge across Storrow Dr. to the Charles River Esplanade.

Visit other Skywatch Friday sites by clicking here.

Make Way for Ducklings

2011-12-15T11:02:00.001-05:00

Life imitates art in the Public Garden.

Charles River Sun Day

2011-12-14T13:02:00.000-05:00

Public Garden Entrance

2011-12-11T10:31:00.005-05:00

Autumn Trees

2011-12-10T10:15:00.000-05:00

City buildings seen through leafless trees.

Late Autumn

2011-12-09T13:13:00.000-05:00

Since it has been a while since my last post of Autumn colors, I thought I would follow with a photo of how the trees look now.

Warm Autumn Colors

2011-11-21T23:11:00.000-05:00

Taken last week when it was still warm.

Autumn Trees

2011-11-19T09:46:00.001-05:00

Skywatch Friday

2011-11-18T00:32:00.000-05:00

Visit other Skywatch Friday sites by clicking here.

Trinity Church

2011-10-24T10:59:00.001-04:00

Trinity Church in Copley Square.

Trinity Church

2011-10-22T06:46:00.002-04:00

Trinity Church (under repair) reflected in the Hancock building.

Circles

2011-10-21T07:46:00.001-04:00

Doorways

2011-10-20T05:24:00.001-04:00

More doorways on a Thursday.

Easy Canvas Print

2011-10-19T19:12:00.000-04:00

I received a copy of one of my photos to canvas today printed on high quality canvas. The results are stunning, as you can see. The colors are vibrant and the stretched canvas print just pops. You can visit them on their Facebook Page, and see some of the great deals they have going on over there. If you "like" them on Facebook, you will automatically receive 50% off of your next order, and free shipping as well.

Photos on Canvas

Wednesday Doorway

2011-10-19T00:14:00.009-04:00

This week's doorway can be found on Marlborough Street.

Deer Island Wastwater Treatment Plant

2011-10-18T04:31:00.001-04:00

Boston - Winthrop Panorama

2011-10-17T00:14:00.003-04:00

Set in Stone

2011-10-16T04:14:00.002-04:00

Steps

2011-10-15T18:45:00.000-04:00

Looking down Boylston Street

2011-10-13T00:03:00.001-04:00

Wednesday Doorway - Prague

2011-10-12T09:42:00.000-04:00

This week's doorway is one of the many beautiful doorways I found in Prague last spring.
I believe it is the Serbian embassy and hope someone will correct me if I am wrong.

There is no shortage of doorways in Boston, I just found myself short of time this week.

Semi-portrait

2011-10-11T00:40:00.001-04:00

Clamming

2011-10-10T00:07:00.002-04:00

100 High

2011-10-09T00:07:00.003-04:00

McCormack

2011-10-08T05:24:00.001-04:00

Skywatch Friday

2011-10-07T00:03:00.000-04:00

Looking down Gloucester Street from a window at the Hynes Convention Center. The tall white building
in the distance is part of the MIT campus across the Charles River.

Visit other Skywatch Friday sites by clicking here.

Swan's Way

2011-10-06T00:31:00.001-04:00

Wednesday Doorway

2011-10-05T00:56:00.007-04:00

North End Doorway. Tileston Street, near the Old North Church.

Carousel

2011-10-04T00:58:00.003-04:00

Children's Carousel on the Boston Common. View on black on my sister site.

World Wide Photo Walk

2011-10-03T00:31:00.021-04:00

Saturday was the Fourth Annual Worldwide Photo Walk. I took part in the Quincy photo walk and had a great time. These are some of my pictures, you can see more of the group's photos on Flickr.

Splendor in the Park

2011-10-02T00:27:00.000-04:00

October Theme Day - Mystery Object

2011-10-01T00:01:00.001-04:00

First day of the month is Theme Day for the City Daily Photoblog community. This month it is "Mystery Object." I chose a close up of something that is readily identifiable to anyone who has been to Boston and been to the Public Garden.

If you haven't guessed yet, it is a swan boat. You can see how others around the world interpret this theme by clicking here to view thumbnails of all participants.

Skywatch Friday

2011-09-30T00:01:00.001-04:00

Visit other Skywatch Friday sites by clicking here.

Farmer's Market

2011-09-29T09:53:00.000-04:00

Farmer's Market at Government Center.

Wednesday Doorway

2011-09-28T00:27:00.006-04:00

This week's entry is the front entrance to what used to be Border's books on the corner of Washington and School Street. I took this shot three weeks ago on one of the very last days it was open. Now there is no bookstore in the downtown area, just as in many other American cities.

Boston Common Plaza

2011-09-27T00:51:00.009-04:00

Construction continues on the plaza for the Brewer Fountain. Original plans called for the plaza to be finished in June, three months ago. The fountain itself was renovated in May of last year.

First Autumn Color

2011-09-26T00:57:00.004-04:00

On a rainy afternoon in the Common.

Hubway Bicycles

2011-09-25T00:01:00.034-04:00

Boston instituted a public bicycle rental system this past July. I believe renting bicycles like this started in Paris
and has spread to many other cities, Boston being one of the most recent. The ideas seems to be quite successful
as can be seen by the pictures I took on different days. The bike stand above on Tremont Street is almost empty
as is the bike stand below on the corner of Boylston and Arlington Street.

Rich Leung

2011-09-24T00:30:00.000-04:00

Rich was handing out advertising materials for the NFL Network's debut of a documentary on New England Patriots Coach Bill Bellicheck. Rich, along with the statue of John Singleton Copley is wearing the signature gray sweatshirt of Coach Bellicheck.

Skywatch Friday

2011-09-23T00:20:00.001-04:00

Visit other Skywatch Friday sites by clicking here.

The Dolls

2011-09-22T00:01:00.028-04:00

I met Lexie and Cat on my walk through the Public Garden one day last week as they were setting up their dolls on the bridge. I had to stop and ask them what they were doing. It turns out their hobby is collecting dolls and taking pictures of them in different places. You can see Lexie's Photos and Cat's Photos on Flickr.

Wednesday Doorway

2011-09-21T00:40:00.015-04:00

Lacking a Boston doorway this week, I thought I would present one of the many Parisian doorways I shot last April.

Playing Bach on Tremont Street

2011-09-20T00:54:00.003-04:00

Robert Gould Shaw Memorial

2011-09-19T03:00:00.003-04:00

Robert Gould Shaw Monument on the grounds of the Augustus Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, N.H.

This more recent casting of the memorial (1971?) includes some later tinkering by Saint-Gaudens after 1897 and includes the sabre held by Shaw, which is broken off from the memorial on the Common. A famous composition by Charles Ives, "Col. Shaw and his Colored Regiment," the opening movement of Three Places in New England, is based both on this monument and the regiment.

From the National Gallery of Art: "Commissioned in the early 1880s and dedicated as a monument in 1897 on the Boston Common, the Shaw Memorial has been acclaimed as the greatest American sculpture of the nineteenth century. The relief masterfully depicts Colonel Shaw and the first African-American infantry unit from the North to fight for the Union during the Civil War. It commemorates the young Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the regiment of African-American volunteers who died in great numbers with him in a heroic assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina, in 1863. Saint-Gaudens' gifts for portraiture, cadenced composition, and reserved expression calling forth projected emotions make this an exceptionally powerful war memorial."

Diana of the Tower

2011-09-18T02:54:00.007-04:00

Statue of Diana in the studio of Augustus Saint-Gaudens in Cornish, New Hampshire. A National Historic Park site.

"Imagine this diminutive sculpture of Diana the Huntress as a rotating, 18-foot-tall, gilded weathervane atop the tower of the newly built Madison Square Garden. In collaboration with his friend, architect Stanford White (the Garden's architect), Saint-Gaudens originally designed the monumental Diana to reign over the New York skyline, a rival to Bartholdi's Liberty in New York Harbor. But Saint-Gaudens' figure proved too unwieldy to function properly (the original had metal drapery attached as a rudder) and was removed. He then designed a 13-foot version, which also failed as a weathervane and had to be bolted fast to the tower.

Saint-Gaudens went on to make Diana of the Tower in several versions and sizes. The National Gallery's three-foot bronze is a simplification of the original: he removed the flowing drapery and placed the huntress on a raised triangular base decorated with winged griffins.

With her slender limbs and graceful pose, Saint-Gaudens' Diana embodies an idealized feminine beauty. Her facial features, based on those of the sculptor's beloved model, Davida Clark, have taken on a classical perfection. Though engaged in vigorous physical pursuit, she remains elegantly composed, standing on tiptoe atop a globe, one leg extended gracefully behind her. Saint-Gaudens achieved a compositional balance, using the strong horizontals of her extended arm, raised elbow, and bow and arrow to counterbalance the figure's essential verticality.

Saint-Gaudens would have seen several mythological Dianas in Paris in the 1870s, but an elongated neo-mannerist bronze Diana by Houdon (cast 1741), which had a similar classical coiffure, had the greatest influence on Diana of the Tower. Unlike any of those prototypes, however, Saint-Gaudens' figure was conceived primarily as an eloquent and elegant silhouette, because a weathervane, seen against a bright sky, must be effective as a cutout shape."

--
source: National Gallery of Art

Trellised Portico

2011-09-17T02:16:00.000-04:00

Portico, Studio of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Cornish, N.H.

Claremont, N.H.

2011-09-16T09:42:00.001-04:00

Civil War statue and Claremont N.H. Town Hall in the background.

Who's That Doggie in the Window

2011-09-15T00:23:00.006-04:00

New Hampshire prides itself on its independent spirit. The state motto is
"Live Free or Die," and here it looks like it even extends to letting dogs drive.
Actually, this great looking pup was waiting for its master to return and was sitting in the driver's seat.

Wednesday Doorway

2011-09-14T00:00:00.000-04:00

Summer is over and it's time to get back to posting again. But I'm going to start the first few days with some pictures I shot recently in New Hampshire. I found this beautiful doorway inside the Claremont, N.H. Town Hall, which is also its Opera House.

Skywatch Friday

2011-07-01T00:01:00.001-04:00

View of the Charles River looking towards the Longfellow Bridge and Cambridge.

This is going to be my last post for awhile. I have to spend more time on a few other photo projects this summer, but plan to return in September. I wish you all a great summer of fun and photography.

Smile

2011-06-30T17:21:00.003-04:00

Wednesday Doorway

2011-06-29T00:01:00.002-04:00

Double doorway on Beacon Street.

Boston 3

2011-06-27T01:50:00.000-04:00

Mennonites on the Common

2011-06-25T05:23:00.026-04:00

A group of Mennonites from Pennsylvannia were on the Boston Common yesterday singing and evangelizing for their faith. Their singing was quite nice, but all I came away with were a few pictures. A fellow citizen seemed unfazed by the visitors and peacefully slept on a bench under the inspirational(?) statue of Industry.

Location: Parkman Plaza on Boston Common, next to the Visitor's Center.

Views of the Mennonites I captured two years ago can be seen: here and here.

Skywatch Friday

2011-06-24T00:01:00.000-04:00

Rainy day sky. Visit other Skywatch Friday sites.

Fanueil Hall Busker

2011-06-23T00:03:00.001-04:00

Young girl receiving a "note of good fortune" for leaving a tip.

Wednesday Doorway

2011-06-22T00:02:00.006-04:00

Beacon Street Doorway.

Father and Daughter

2011-06-21T10:43:00.001-04:00

Enjoying street performers at Fanueil Hall Marketplace. Another father and daughter at the same show.

Under Surveillance

2011-06-17T17:54:00.000-04:00

I noticed the camera on this pole the other day and it seems everywhere you look cameras are proliferating. Once you start to look up a bit at poles and buildings you will notice cameras everywhere. I wonder who's watching all those surveillance tapes and what are they doing with them. Even in the picture below, there are three cameras watching this entrance. I'm sure they got my picture when I got theirs. I know security is a necessity, but I find cameras everywhere a little Orwellian.

Tea Party Museum

2011-06-16T00:01:00.020-04:00

Boston Tea Party and Ships Museum. Scheduled to re-open June 2012. The museum will be located at Fort Point Channel in front of the Children's Museum. Note the giant milk bottle in front of the Children's Museum and Arthur the Aardvark on its roof in the upper left.

Wednesday Doorway

2011-06-15T00:46:00.006-04:00

Beacon Street Doorway.

Flag Day

2011-06-14T00:34:00.003-04:00

In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It is not a federal holiday, but it commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States by the Second Continental Congress in 1777.

Phillis Wheatley

2011-06-13T07:17:00.001-04:00

This statue of Phillis Wheatley is part of the Boston Women's Memorial on the mall on Commonwealth Ave. The Memorial celebrates three important contributors to Boston's rich history - Abigail Adams, Lucy Stone, and Phillis Wheatley (pictured here). The sculptures are by artist Meredith Bergmann and represent her thinking about public art. Unlike conventional statues that are larger than life and set upon pedestals, these statues are more human-sized and invite viewers to interact with them.

The Spirit of Giving

2011-06-11T06:11:00.008-04:00

An allegorical winged female figure atop a granite base installed in an elliptical-shaped pebble and granite fountain. The female figure holds a basket with her proper right arm outstretched and casts bread upon the waters. Two bronze cornucopias flank the central figure. The statue, designed by Daniel Chester French, commemorates George Robert White (1847-1922), Boston resident who made a fortune in the wholesale drug and chemistry business and became one of the City's foremost philanthropists.

Location: Boston Public Garden at the corner of Arlington and Beacon Streets.

Hula Hoops

2011-06-10T05:24:00.014-04:00

Last weekend there was a festival on the Rose Kennedy Greenway featuring many different activities. In this section some people were doing dances with Hula Hoops; some more successfully than others.

Under Construction

2011-06-09T10:16:00.003-04:00

The plaza between the recently renovated Brewer Fountain, covered in blue, and Liberty Mall on the Boston Common is being given a makeover. The update to the plaza began in March and is scheduled to be completed this month. The project is a collaboration between the City of Boston and the Friends of the Public Garden.

The plaza is on the Tremont Street side of the Boston Common and is within sight of the Massachusetts State House.

Wednesday Doorway

2011-06-08T11:03:00.002-04:00

This week's doorway, as noted above, is on City Hall Plaza.

George Washington, Bruins Fan

2011-06-07T21:25:00.004-04:00

Our local hockey team, the Boston Bruins, is in the finals for the Stanley Cup and it seems everyone is a fan.