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Thursday, May 1, 2008

Commentary on Cranes and Their Creations















The building cranes loom everywhere in Austin, giving us an unusual skyline these days. It's hard to avoid casting them as characters in my Vanishing Austin photographs. When the snake that graces the east side of Ranch 616 actually seemed to have a reaction to the cranes, that was an image that seemed to embody my concept for my photographic journey through Austin old and new. Its title: Vanishing Austin / Duelling Threats. (Though you gotta wonder who's winning.)

Sometimes it's the tall towers that seem to mock the scale of the architectural ambiance that thrives so far beneath them. Still, I'm rootin' for the little guy--like the Tiniest Bar in Texas. Whose owners say they're makin' a stand, right there amidst all the high-rise action on West 5th Street, in the shadow of the Monarch. Below, Vanishing Austin / Tiny Bar, Tall Tower.

In the Warehouse District, cranes reflect back in the existing high-rises (which are themselves being overtaken by the newer skyscrapers) and provide an artsy backdrop to an older block that still stands. Here's to a fight until the Bitter End (below, Vanishing Austin / Until the Bitter End).





6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful but sad thoughts fill my head when I see the term "Vanishing Austin". Memories of The Amarillo World Headquarters, Mother Earth on S.Lamar, The Boonsdock Club downtown before there was even a 6th street or a trendy yuppy warehouse district are but a few of the local haunts that are gone forever. The Austin I love is the Austin where UT had 48,000 students in a town of 150,000, where you could go anyehere in town in 30 minutes or less. Those days are gone and many of the landmarks associated with Austin's golden times aew gone too. Thank you Jann for keeping immortalizing the memories

Jann Alexander at AustinDetailsArt.com said...

thanks for your comments and if I had a photo of Liberty Lunch I could be a millionaire . . . seriously, who knew when I started photographing the eye candy I love here in Austin that it would strike such a chord. I'm glad to hear my work is appreciated! now wouldn't it be great if we somehow made way for BOTH development AND our heritage--Jann

Anonymous said...

Your blog is very much like the way you think about Austin. Your photographs are wonderful! I think Barton Springs will be there for all eternity — but I certainly think it’s worth a Jann photo or two. It’s my favorite place in Austin. Check out the bathhouse before they remodel.

Jann Alexander at AustinDetailsArt.com said...

GREAT suggestion. thanks. I agree, the bathhouse of old deserves a photo. I hope Barton Springs survives eternally, too, and in its more uncloudied state from the recent past too--since unchecked development threatens not just Austin's urban identity but the health of its waterways too. I appreciate your feedback--Jann

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

sigh....another Walgreens.....

Jann Alexander at AustinDetailsArt.com said...

or another condo, and though they're handsome in their modern styling, they often come at the expense of what's unique in Austin.