Some Square Format Views

I think my favorite photographic format is the square view given to me by my Hasselblad and Ciroflex cameras. Filling a square makes me think harder about composition -- lines, shapes, colors, and where they are positioned within the frame. It's a good format for architectural photography.

Here are a couple of photographs that came from film that was just recently developed! Both were taken over the summer (July 2010) while I was still living up north.

Thill's Fish House, Marquette


St. Anne's Church, Calumet

This year, I hope to do more medium format photography. Sometimes, I forget just how much fun it is! I almost always end up with better-composed, higher-quality photographs. Only having twelve exposures per roll makes me get it right the first time, in comparison to the hundreds of exposures that can be held on a memory card.

Long time, no post!

A year's gone by since I've last updated this blog, and after some (fortunate) persuasion by several people, I've finally convinced myself that it's high time to continue posting here. I don't want to include too much personal stuff on this blog, but life's been a little crazy for the past eleven months, and certainly quite busy. College, friends, and internet culture kind of takes over, and all of a sudden, you find you aren't updating things like you used to! Anyway, hopefully that's over, and I can continue to post photographs and information here, celebrating Michigan's architecture.

After a long, eventful summer of working with the photographs at the U of M Clements Library, I'm back in Marquette, for my junior year at Northern Michigan University. I'm taking four art classes this semester, including the dreaded AD 303 Individual Art Review -- wait, I suppose I should backtrack a little, back to my work over the summer. Working at the Clements was, to put it simply, amazing. The project was financed by the Michigan Photographic Historical Society and it was one of the best learning experiences I've ever had. My job was to reorganize the photography collection -- and it was a huge, but rewarding project.

The Clements Library's photograph collection is primarily comprised of American vernacular photography -- that is, photographs showing everyday life, family pictures, and city scenes -- as opposed to fine art photography. I had the opportunity to view all kinds of cartes de visite, matted photographs, cabinet cards, and, most interesting of all, photograph albums. Thanks to MiPHS member David Tinder, there are hundreds -- thousands -- of photographs of Michigan alone, and seeing those was particularly fascinating.

For example, I had no idea that Marquette suffered a major fire back in the mid-1800s. There were several views of the city, dating from, if I remember correctly, the 1870s, where the buildings downtown were built from wood -- and I learned soonafter that Marquette had burned. Replacing the destroyed wooden structures were stone buildings, many of which remain today.

In any case, the job was fascinating, rewarding, and very educational. If you're in the Ann Arbor area and interested in what the Clements Library does, I highly recommend stopping by. It's one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture on the University of Michigan's campus -- designed by Albert Kahn in 1922 in the Italian Renaissance style, it is a very graceful, ornate structure, inside and out.

So, here I am, now, in Marquette, living off-campus with my best friend Ashlee, in an apartment right across the street from Lake Superior. It's amazing -- no, incredibly awesome to be away from the dorms and away from all the hubbub and noise that is NMU. We're minutes away from downtown, seconds away from the lake, and a twenty-minute walk from campus.

I mentioned earlier AD 303 -- Individual Art Review -- the pass-or-fail class that determines whether or not you can continue being an art major. It's a serious-business course, and at the end of it all, you must have a prepared statement of intent and extensive portfolio that you show to various members of the Art and Design staff. It's a big deal. As far as that portfolio goes, I've got a general idea of what I want to do (and I'd better, because the first draft of that statement of intent is due next week!) -- unsurprisingly, it involves theaters, from both an artistic and preservationist standpoint.

I'll go into more detail in later posts, as my idea is developed and refined, but look for updates as the semester continues, and as I stress myself out into an unintelligible pile of goo!

Until then, enjoy a few views of our great state's architecture.

How about a Great Lakes lighthouse? Eagle Harbor's lighthouse, taken the first week of May, right after the Winter '08 semester had ended. It was still snowing in the Keweenaw Peninsula, much to the chagrin of my father and myself.

A pair of bad architectural additions on display in Cheboygan, back from April of this year. I'd like to have a word with whoever approved these designs...

Working our way downstate and earlier into the year, here's an abstract view of some clashing architecture: the white columns of the Jiffy Mix factory rise up above the brick façades of downtown Chelsea.

I'll leave you with a night view of Houghton's Lode Theatre, taken during Michigan Tech's Winter Festival in February. As many people have told me, the interior of the theater building has been torn up and divided into several screens -- an unfortunate fate that many theaters have suffered. I'm motivating myself to finish my theater project and hopefully it will be completed soon. I've done the photography... and now it's time for the real work!

Over and out.

Marquette's Lesser-Known Buildings

You've probably seen a multitude of photographs that show Marquette's county courthouse, ore docks, clocktower, and cathedral -- but what about the architecture we never see? The buildings we overlook are often quite beautiful, or used to be in their heyday. They've got rich, gritty textures and surprising colors that just aren't seen on the structures of today.

This gutted, abandoned building faces Lake Superior and the ore dock. I don't know what its original purpose was, but I would guess it once played a role in the iron ore or fishing industry. Notice the scars of a staircase that was once attached to the outside of the building. The structure is made from blocks of local sandstone, the same rock that helped build the rest of the city.

If we move in closer, we can see the blocks of stone cut to form an arch over a basement-level window.

The back of this building is constructed from two kinds of brick and sandstone blocks, not to mention the wood where an extra window was added. All of the additions and changes tell a story of the building's history, most of which is probably forgotten.

The back of this yellow brick building is simple, yet beautiful.

This old warehouse faces Lake Superior, near the Picnic Rocks park. I don't know what was produced there, but the complex, though abandoned, seems to be kept up by the city.

Thill's Fish Market, though only a quonset hut, has just as much character as a building constructed a century ago.

I'll be leaving Marquette for the summer this Friday, as that is my last day of final exams at Northern Michigan University. Though it will be nice to return home to Ann Arbor, I will truly miss the Upper Peninsula, Marquette, and all of my friends here. I might do one more post about Marquette before leaving -- perhaps highlighting the ore docks here.

As a sidenote, I will finish the series about the U.P.'s old theaters.

Krappy Architecture

Well, the Ann Arbor Area Krappy Kamera Club is currently having a show at Gallery 4 in Ann Arbor's beautiful Nickels Arcade. To keep with the spirit of toy camera photography, I'll feature several architecturally-themed cheap shots, courtesy of the Holga and Diana.



Ann Arbor's doomed Anberay Apartments. I was lucky to catch this complex earlier this month -- I don't know how much longer they'll be lasting. A high-rise condominium will be replacing the apartments in the near future. In related news, demolition has begun on the Frieze Building.



The side entrance to the Marquette County Courthouse. This is the entrance in which you see the characters enter and exit the building in the film Anatomy of a Murder. This small portico, with its graceful ionic columns, carved from red sandstone, is quite different than the front entrance of the courthouse, which is guarded by gargantuan granite doric columns.



The Old Marquette City Hall -- still one of my favorite buildings in Marquette. It's amazing how the well the detailed carving in the sandstone came out, even though the photograph was taken through the plastic lens of a Holga.



A small architectural detail on what I think was a bank, in Kalamazoo.



How could I exclude Northern Michigan University's iconic Superior Dome (more commonly referred to as simply "The Dome")? This structure holds the title as the largest wooden dome in the world, just narrowly beating out a similar building in Japan.

A benefit of using toy cameras to photograph familiar architecture is that everything is seen through an entirely different lens. When I think of how many shots I've taken of the Old City Hall, the courthouse, and the Dome with the run-of-the-mill camera, I think I prefer the non-conventional ones taken with the toy cameras.

The American Foursquare

The American Foursquare house, as featured on Marquette's Champion Street.

This housing style was popular from the mid-1890s on until around 1940. It is typified by a boxy design, a front-facing dormer window, and a hipped roof (in the Upper Peninsula, the roof is pitched much more steeply due to the snowy climate). The square design maximizes the use of a small city lot.

Many of these houses could be ordered by mail from catalogues such as Sears and Roebucks. They were delivered by train and came ready to build, for a cheap price.

St. Peter's Cathedral

Marquette is home to the beautiful and historic St. Peter's Cathedral. This church, with its twin domed steeples, sits upon one of the highest points in downtown Marquette and can be seen from afar. The building is lovely both inside and out, and is built from area sandstone.



The inside of the cathedral, looking toward the altar.



Looking toward the choir loft and the organ. The floor is made from beautiful tiles.



The steeples are adorned with colorful terra cotta tiling and stylized angels.



The cornerstone was laid in 1881 following a blaze that destroyed the first cathedral on the spot. A second blaze gutted the cathedral in 1935, but restoration started the following year. The domes were added to the top of the steeples at this time, hence the reason why the figures are depicted in an Art Deco style.

To read a full history of St. Peter's Cathedral, visit this site.

Marquette Housing

Marquette is home to a lot of beautiful, varied houses. Some streets are more spectacular than others, namely Arch Street and Ridge Street.



An Italianate and Second Empire-themed house on Ridge Street. In this area, there is a lot of combining of styles, resulting in a unique appearance.



There is some very ornate woodwork on this porch.



The residents of Marquette go all out with their Halloween decorations!



A great Second Empire house on Ridge Street, made from sandstone.



Another great sandstone house on Ridge Street.



A Gothic Revival House, also on Ridge.



The historic Dandelion Cottage on Arch Street, built around 1880.

Small Things

It's been kind of rainy here in Marquette for the past couple of days -- with more rain in the forecast for tomorrow. I don't mind the rain, but walking to class in it isn't my cup of tea. Personally, I'd rather have it snow -- but we'll be having a surplus of that in only a few short weeks. Anyhow, I digress. Yesterday -- before it started to drizzle -- I biked downtown to get some fresh air and take a few photographs along the way. I saw some pretty cool houses, but I'll wait to post any photos here until I've got a substantial series going. The sky being quite overcast, yesterday was good for photographing architectural details.



One of the few art deco buildings in Marquette



The Harlow Block, which has some great detail



Small details on the Landmark Inn



Interesting window treatments on the former Nordic Theatre, now Book World



A red window frame set in red sandstone

Capital Ornamentation

Yesterday, one of Marquette's local book stores (the wonderful Snowbound Books) was having an art book sale as a fundraiser for Art and Design students. They had a great selection (from Pablo Picasso to Frank Lloyd Wright) with low prices, and it was refreshing to see fellow art students swarming the display tables. Feeling like it was about time to buy myself a gift, I purchased William L. Price: Arts and Crafts to Modern Design by George E. Thomas and 20th Century American Architecture, A Traveler's Guide to 220 Key Buildings by Sydney LeBlanc.

And now, for today's post: a smattering of various decorative elements on columns and pillars.



St. Peter's Cathedral, Marquette




Ionia County Courthouse, Ionia




Savings Bank, Port Huron




Starkweather Memorial Chapel, Ypsilanti

Marquette Windows

Monday was another beautiful day in Marquette. The sky was clear as a bell, the trees were glowing with color, and it was warm and breezy and just all-around gorgeous. As far as I'm concerned, that's as good as it gets in the Upper Peninsula, whether it's autumn or otherwise. Unlike many students, I feel guilty if I stay inside on such a fine day -- it's like you're voluntarily jailing yourself within a 12'-by-12' cell. So, I decided to go downtown with my friend Ashlee. By bike, downtown Marquette is about fifteen minutes or less from the Northern Michigan University campus. It's not an incredibly challenging ride, though there are some hills along the way (riding back is quite a bit more difficult). Having just finished a relatively easy American Architecture exam, Ashlee and I were shouting out various architectural terms as we passed by buildings that exhibited said characteristics ("Look! Quoins!").

It was a great day for a walk downtown. We went inside the post office (built in 1935), and saw that it has a great mural and plenty of art deco ornamentation. We also considered venturing inside the Old City Hall, but realized that the front entrance isn't supposed to be used (for fear of falling sandstone). However, there is a plaque outside the building, and here is some of what it said:

The Marquette City Hall, designed by Lovejoy and Demar, was constructed in 1894 of locally quarried red sandstone in the eclectic style that reflects the popular tastes of its time. It was an imposing structure that included all municipal departments and functioned as a center for large gatherings. The auditorium was used for conventions, a temporary high school, and a drill location for local guards during World War I. [ . . . ] Peter O'Dovero purchased this building in 1975, restored it, and renovated it as office space. Old City Hall is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Michigan Register of Historic Places.

Another view of this superb building.

I'll move on, though, to this post's namesake: Marquette's windows. They're quite colorful, whether they're set in painted brick or sandstone.









The internet and several cellular providers were down yesterday (the tower in Green Bay, Wisconsin was damaged), so while many students wasted their time complaining about their computers and cell phones, we went downtown and saw some great architecture -- and maybe even got a tan in the process.