balding angrily

This morning I got the chance to go to a press preview (sounds so official, right?) of a new exhibit of architectural models at the Nasher Sculpture Center. It’s called The Art of Architecture: Foster + Partners, and it was planned in conjunction with the eminent opening of Dallas’ new Winspear Opera House, designed by Foster + Partners.

Aside from the room dedicated to the Winspear, there were approximately twenty other architectural models of bass wood, plastic, lights, and, in one case, a working elevator. Spencer de Grey, Head of Design at Foster + Partners walked the various reporters around the exhibition space and talked about each project.

But this is all about me. It’s my website, dammit. I got the invitation through my work with The Advocate, even though The Advocate doesn’t cover Dallas’ expanding arts district—the Winspear and Nasher being key components— so I took the opportunity to shoot a whole lot of photographs of beautiful models. The Nasher doesn’t usually permit photography, so, score!

A photography teacher once told my class, “The only difference between professional photographers and you is that the professional photographers don’t show you their mistakes.” In that vein, I’m only showing you my favorites.

One note: the Nasher Sculpture Center is just an amazing indoor space for photography. Only one of these photographs required a flash. It’s always awesome to get good photographs with ambient light. I also got to play with photoshop to correct lens distortions—I made vertical lines true.

De Grey talks about one of the models in the exhibition.

 

 

 

 A model of The Great Court at the British Museum in London. I would like to be able to erase myself out of the reflection. I like the other reflections.

 

 

I tried to capture the eagles’ nest that the model builders had placed on this tower platform. The nest didn’t come out clearly, but I still like the tower structure against the beautiful ceiling treatment inside the Nasher.

 

 

He’s a little man doing his little job.

 

 

This is the only photo that has a flash, and I’m very proud of myself that I was able to manipulate the flash control on my camera so that it doesn’t look like a flash photo. I love macro photography; I think I need to get a macro lens.

…in general, and London specifically.

J & I will be going to London in February, and I’m preparing by reading The Unofficial Guide to London. Usually I don’t prepare for a trip, leaving it to Jerry. But our NYC trip turned out to be such a trial on my nerves that my doctor, after prescribing a delightful anti-anxiety medication, suggested I plan better.

• “Don’t tell anyone that their accent is “cute.” It is you who has the accent, and it is not considered remotely cute by the British.” What if I talk like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins the whole time? What if I openly mock them and accompany anything I say with a chimney-sweeping jig? Will they find that cute?
• Queen Elizabeth I had her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots executed and buried. After Elizabeth’s reign, Mary’s body was exhumed and placed in Westminster Abbey, not far from the body of Elizabeth. No this is not REALLY interesting unless you picture Mary, Queen of Scots as a fourteen-foot tall puppet with gangly arms. My knowledge of British history is tainted by Monty Python, and their Pantomime Queen is one of the more enduring images in my head.
• Along the slow transfer of power from the monarchy to parliament in British government is an episode where “monarchist Cavaliers were defeated by Puritan Roundheads.” I’ve never understood why political parties choose for themselves unflattering images: Roundheads, donkeys, elephants, know-nothings. Or if they didn’t choose the image for themselves, why did they stick with the images someone else gave them? But then again, I despise politics, so maybe I’m not meant to know.
• “Don’t expect people to introduce you to others. One can spend an entire evening with a group of people who introduce neither themselves nor their friends to you. This is not bad manners; rather, it has something to do with the don’t-be-pushy rule that prevails at most gatherings. Introductions can only be undertaken by the correct factotum, and nobody will know who that might be, so they keep quiet (as may the correct factotum, not wanting to look self-important).” It’s no wonder Yanks are perceived as elephantine bores if introducing oneself is considered presumptuous. We must look like mountain men with puffed-up chests to them. That’s why I want to be as slender and aerodynamic as I can when we go to London. I want to be wispy, starved like a sliver of soap.
• Knightsbridge is “famous for having the most consonants in a row in any English word.” I did not know that. And because I did not know that I assume that The Unofficial Guide is lying to me.
• In order to quickly adjust to the time change, travelers are advised, “On the plane, drink lots and lots of water, but no alcohol, and eat sparingly. Sleeping on the plane is not always an option, but do try.” Well, that makes sense. Sleeping’s not an option because you’re running to the bathroom to void your bladder AND you’re clawing at your empty belly like a Dickensian waif.