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Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis,_Tennessee

 

Memphis is a city along the Mississippi River in southwestern Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. The 2019 population was 651,073, making Memphis the largest city on the Mississippi River, the second most populous in Tennessee, as well as the 26th largest city in the United States. Greater Memphis is the 42nd largest metropolitan area in the United States, with a population of 1,348,260 in 2017. The city is the anchor of West Tennessee and the greater Mid-South region, which includes portions of neighboring Arkansas, Mississippi, and the Missouri Bootheel. Memphis is the seat of Shelby County, Tennessee's most populous county. One of the more historic and culturally significant cities of the southern United States, Memphis has a wide variety of landscapes and distinct neighborhoods.

 

The first European explorer to visit the area of present-day Memphis was Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto in 1541 with his expedition into the New World. The high Chickasaw Bluffs protecting the location from the waters of the Mississippi was then contested by the Spanish, French, and the English as Memphis took shape. Modern Memphis was founded in 1819 by three prominent Americans: John Overton, James Winchester, and future president Andrew Jackson.

 

Memphis grew into one of the largest cities of the Antebellum South as a market for agricultural goods, natural resources like lumber, and the American slave trade. After the American Civil War and the end of slavery, the city experienced even faster growth into the 20th century as it became among the largest world markets for cotton and lumber.

 

Home to Tennessee's largest African-American population, Memphis played a prominent role in the American civil rights movement and was the site of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 1968 assassination. The city now hosts the National Civil Rights Museum—a Smithsonian affiliate institution. Since the civil rights era, Memphis has become one of the nation's leading commercial centers in transportation and logistics. Its largest employer is the multinational courier corporation FedEx, which maintains its global air hub at Memphis International Airport, making it the second-busiest cargo airport in the world. In addition to being a global air cargo leader, the International Port of Memphis also hosts the 5th busiest inland water port in the U.S., with access to the Mississippi River allowing shipments to arrive from around the world for conversion to train and trucking transport throughout the United States, making Memphis a multi-modal hub for trading goods for imports and exports despite its inland location.

 

Memphis is a regional center for commerce, education, media, art, and entertainment. It has long had a prominent music scene, with historic blues clubs on Beale Street originating the unique Memphis blues sound in the early 20th century. The city's music has continued to be shaped by a multicultural mix of influences: the blues, country, rock n' roll, soul, and hip-hop. Memphis barbecue has achieved international prominence, and the city hosts the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, which attracts over 100,000 visitors to the city annually.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beale_Street

 

Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately 1.8 miles (2.9 km). It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, the blues clubs and restaurants that line Beale Street are major tourist attractions in Memphis. Festivals and outdoor concerts frequently bring large crowds to the street and its surrounding areas.

In addition to his Mid Hants Group of bus fleets, my late friend Peter Sincock also had a collection of fire appliances and I was recently able to acquire a batch of them. One of my favourites is this Bedford TK hydraulic platform (HP) with working stabilisers and an extending boom, which appears to be a Herpa HO plastic model of a Ruthmann Steiger with its original Mercedes cab removed and the front of an EFE Bedford grafted on. The registration ROT 585S is quite apt given its German origins as 'rot' is German for red.

abandoned farmer house,chateau de la source

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville,_Kentucky

 

Louisville is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 29th most-populous city in the United States. It is one of two cities in Kentucky designated as first-class, the other being Lexington, the state's second-largest city. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, located in the state's north and on the border with Indiana.

 

Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark, making it one of the oldest cities west of the Appalachian Mountains. It is named after King Louis XVI of France. Sited beside the Falls of the Ohio, the only major obstruction to river traffic between the upper Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico, the settlement first grew as a portage site. It was the founding city of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which grew into a 6,000-mile (9,700 km) system across 13 states. Today, the city is known as the home of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), the University of Louisville and its Louisville Cardinals athletic teams, Louisville Slugger baseball bats, and three of Kentucky's six Fortune 500 companies. Its main airport is also the site of United Parcel Service's worldwide air hub.

 

Since 2003, Louisville's borders have been the same as those of Jefferson County, after a city-county merger. The official name of this consolidated city-county government is the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, abbreviated to Louisville Metro. Despite the merger and renaming, the term "Jefferson County" continues to be used in some contexts in reference to Louisville Metro, particularly including the incorporated cities outside the "balance" which make up Louisville proper. The city's total consolidated population as of the 2017 census estimate was 771,158. However, the balance total of 621,349 excludes other incorporated places and semiautonomous towns within the county and is the population listed in most sources and national rankings.

 

The Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), sometimes also referred to as Kentuckiana, includes Louisville-Jefferson County and 12 surrounding counties, seven in Kentucky and five in Southern Indiana. As of 2017, the MSA had a population of 1,293,953, ranking 45th nationally.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/400_West_Market

 

400 West Market is a skyscraper in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky. The 35-story, 549-foot (167 m) high structure was designed by architect John Burgee with Philip Johnson. It was Kentucky's tallest building when built for $100 million in 1991. Its groundbreaking ceremony occurred in July 1991 with initial occupancy in October 1992 and final occupancy in April 1993. Originally called Capital Holding Building and later, Capital Holding Center, the structure was later renamed Providian Center then AEGON Center as the business was renamed and sold. AEGON left the building in 2010, and the building was renamed 400 West Market in 2014.

 

Currently the tallest building in the state of Kentucky, the building is constructed of reinforced concrete, as opposed to the steel construction usual for buildings of its height. A distinctive feature of the building is the 80-foot (24 m) high Romanesque dome which reflects the building's original name of Capital Holding that is illuminated from the interior at night. The upper floors of the building are also illuminated at night. 400 West Market's lighting is changed from the usual white to a combination of red and green from Thanksgiving Day until New Year's Day.

 

The skyscraper has 633,650 square feet (58,868 m²) of leaseable space for office and 18,787 square feet (1,745 m²) for retail.

 

The original owner of 400 West Market was a limited partnership which consisted of Hines Interest, as a general partner, and Japanese limited partners. In April, 2004, David Werner's investment group purchased the building.

 

There is a statue in the plaza of 400 West Market of Alysheba, winner of the 1987 Kentucky Derby and a 1993 U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee.

Source: www.autoworldmuseum.com/about.html

 

Why build an automotive museum? Because one way or another, our lives are touched by the automobile. We remember our parents’ cars, the ones we traveled in with family, the ones we borrowed for our first car date, the first ones we bought. The fast cars, the junkers, the modified ones and the ones we rebuilt—all of them are tied to us in memory. We even dream of cars.

 

William E. Backer, former owner of Backer Potato Chip Company in Fulton, Missouri, looked back in time and found that a vintage automobile was a thing of fascination. His memories were of old country roads and two lane highways. Bill Backer was an engineer and a builder who loved to tinker. Having built a successful potato chip company, he looked back at the cars that were part of his childhood. Shortly after, he owned a Canadian 1924 Dodge Touring. Dark blue with black fenders and a cloth top. Bill drove his family around the back country roads of Callaway County, Missouri and felt himself touching fading memories.

 

Not long after he collected the Dodge, Bill had a 1909 Ford Model T. Soon after that, a 1930 Model A. Then a 1929 Cord, a 1931 Rolls Royce Phantom II, a 1957 Chevy Bel Air, and so on. By the mid 1990’s, the number of classic autos in the collection neared 100. Bill found a home for many of his classic cars in an old retail building in Fulton. The Auto World Museum Foundation was formed and a classic car museum was opened to the public. Ten years later, in 2006, the automobile museum was moved to its current home at 200 Peacock Drive in Fulton. It is a building dedicated to the history of vintage and modern automobiles as well as the history of Callaway County and Fulton, Missouri.

 

After his passing in 2008, his daughter, Vicki McDaniel, assumed leadership of the museum and the collection of cars. Since then, the collection of vintage autos has changed a little. However, her primary passion is for the presentation of antique cars and modern ones in a place that everyone can visit.

 

The presentation of cars and staging of the museum is the vision of Tom K. Jones, Artistic Director of TKJ Designs in Fulton, Missouri. His concept for the museum was a movement through time and a portrayal of the history of Callaway County, Missouri. Auto World Museum is a stage—a movement through history. Its deep black curtains, scenes from back when, panels of advertising and memorabilia will take you through a history of motion in time. At first, you will visit a period not that long ago, although some say 100 years is a long time. As you move in a clockwise direction through the museum, you will find enticing displays. The simplicity of family drives in the convertible. The decadence of Hollywood and its fancy cars. The sights and sounds of the drive-in as you watched from the comfort of your Studebaker or Corvair. You will ponder when gas prices were really, really low. Finally, you will find yourself nearing the future, with displays of alternative fuel vehicles.

 

Auto World Museum will spark your curiosity. We hope that you will find that our collection of vintage and modern automobiles fascinates you the way that it did Bill Backer. We hope you will continue the journey with us as we add to the collection over time. We would like to thank William Harrison for his dedication to the research on the autos in the museum.

The story reminds me of the libretto of "Il Trovatore" by Giuseppe Verdi

 

T212 - Metanira discovering herself while watching Demeter holding her son [Deiphon] over the flames - Apollonides

 

Source:

Beazley gem database

Source: Digital image.

Image: P...

Date. April 2016.

Photographer: P. Robinson.

Donated in May 2016.

Copyright: SBC.

Repository: Local Studies at Swindon Central Library.

www.swindon.gov.uk/localstudies

Source: Scan of the original item.

Set: WIL01.

Date: Unknown.

Postmark: Unused.

Publisher: Unknown.

Repository: From the collection of Mr P. Wilkins.

Used by his very kind permission.

Local Studies at Swindon Central Library.

www.swindon.gov.uk/localstudies

The only source for water on the trek was from river. Porters used to boil that before giving to us.

  

Catch me on facebook

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich

 

Munich (German: München; Austro-Bavarian: Minga; Polish: Monachium) is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, the second most populous German federal state. With a population of around 1.5 million, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, as well as the 12th-largest city in the European Union. The city's metropolitan region is home to 6 million people. Straddling the banks of the River Isar (a tributary of the Danube) north of the Bavarian Alps, it is the seat of the Bavarian administrative region of Upper Bavaria, while being the most densely populated municipality in Germany (4,500 people per km²). Munich is the second-largest city in the Bavarian dialect area, after the Austrian capital of Vienna.

 

The city is a major centre of art, technology, finance, publishing, culture, innovation, education, business, and tourism in Germany and Europe and enjoys a very high standard and quality of living, reaching first in Germany and third worldwide according to the 2018 Mercer survey, and being rated the world's most liveable city by the Monocle's Quality of Life Survey 2018. According to the Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute Munich is considered an alpha-world city, as of 2015.

 

The name of the city is derived from the Old/Middle High German term Munichen, meaning "by the monks". It derives from the monks of the Benedictine order, who ran a monastery at the place that was later to become the Old Town of Munich; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat of arms. Munich was first mentioned in 1158. Catholic Munich strongly resisted the Reformation and was a political point of divergence during the resulting Thirty Years' War, but remained physically untouched despite an occupation by the Protestant Swedes. Once Bavaria was established as a sovereign kingdom in 1806, it became a major European centre of arts, architecture, culture and science. In 1918, during the German Revolution, the ruling house of Wittelsbach, which had governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich and a short-lived socialist republic was declared.

 

In the 1920s, Munich became home to several political factions, among them the NSDAP. The first attempt of the Nazi movement to take over the German government in 1923 with the Beer Hall Putsch was stopped by the Bavarian police in Munich with gunfire. After the Nazis' rise to power, Munich was declared their "Capital of the Movement". During World War II, Munich was heavily bombed and more than 50% of the entire city and up to 90% of the historic centre were destroyed. After the end of postwar American occupation in 1949, there was a great increase in population and economic power during the years of Wirtschaftswunder, or "economic miracle". Unlike many other German cities which were heavily bombed, Munich restored most of its traditional cityscape and hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics. The 1980s brought strong economic growth, high-tech industries and scientific institutions, and population growth. The city is home to major corporations like BMW, Siemens, MAN, Linde, Allianz and MunichRE.

 

Munich is home to many universities, museums and theatres. Its numerous architectural attractions, sports events, exhibitions and its annual Oktoberfest attract considerable tourism. Munich is one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany. It is a top-ranked destination for migration and expatriate location. Munich hosts more than 530,000 people of foreign background, making up 37.7% of its population.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Town_Hall_(Munich)

 

The New Town Hall (German: Neues Rathaus; Central Bavarian: Neis Rathaus) is a town hall at the northern part of Marienplatz in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It hosts the city government including the city council, offices of the mayors and a small portion part of the administration. In 1874 the municipality had left the Old Town Hall for its new domicile.

T79 - Ceres escaping from the importunities of Neptune by changing herself into a mare - Apollonides

 

Source:

Beazley gem database

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome

 

Rome is the capital city and a special comune of Italy (named Comune di Roma Capitale). Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region. With 2,872,800 residents in 1,285 km2 (496.1 sq mi), it is also the country's most populated comune. It is the fourth most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the centre of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4,355,725 residents, thus making it the most populous metropolitan city in Italy. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of the Tiber. The Vatican City (the smallest country in the world) is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city: for this reason Rome has been often defined as capital of two states.

 

Rome's history spans 28 centuries. While Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The city's early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans, and Sabines. Eventually, the city successively became the capital of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, and is regarded by some as the first ever metropolis. It was first called The Eternal City (Latin: Urbs Aeterna; Italian: La Città Eterna) by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the "Caput Mundi" (Capital of the World). After the fall of the Western Empire, which marked the beginning of the Middle Ages, Rome slowly fell under the political control of the Papacy, and in the 8th century it became the capital of the Papal States, which lasted until 1870. Beginning with the Renaissance, almost all the popes since Nicholas V (1447–1455) pursued over four hundred years a coherent architectural and urban programme aimed at making the city the artistic and cultural centre of the world. In this way, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, creating masterpieces throughout the city. In 1871, Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, which, in 1946, became the Italian Republic.

 

Rome has the status of a global city. In 2016, Rome ranked as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The famous Vatican Museums are among the world's most visited museums while the Colosseum was the most popular tourist attraction in world with 7.4 million visitors in 2018. Host city for the 1960 Summer Olympics, Rome is the seat of several specialized agencies of the United Nations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The city also hosts the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) as well as the headquarters of many international business companies such as Eni, Enel, TIM, Leonardo S.p.A., and national and international banks such as Unicredit and BNL. Its business district, called EUR, is the base of many companies involved in the oil industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and financial services. Rome is also an important fashion and design centre thanks to renowned international brands centered in the city. Rome's Cinecittà Studios have been the set of many Academy Award–winning movies.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Steps

 

The Spanish Steps (Italian: Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti) are a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church at the top.

 

The monumental stairway of 174 steps (the slightly elevated drainage system is often mistaken for the first step) was built with French diplomat Étienne Gueffier’s bequeathed funds of 20,000 scudi, in 1723–1725, linking the Bourbon Spanish Embassy, and the Trinità dei Monti church that was under the patronage of the Bourbon kings of France, both located above — to the Holy See in Palazzo Monaldeschi located below. The stairway was designed by architects Francesco de Sanctis and Alessandro Specchi.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontana_della_Barcaccia

 

The Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Boat) is a Baroque-style fountain found at the foot of the Spanish Steps in Rome's Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Square). Pope Urban VIII commissioned Pietro Bernini in 1623 to build the fountain as part of a prior Papal project to erect a fountain in every major piazza in Rome. The fountain was completed between 1627 and 1629 by Pietro possibly along with the help of his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini, especially after his father's death in August 29, 1629.

 

The sculptural fountain is made into the shape of a half-sunken ship with water overflowing its sides into a small basin. The source of the water comes from the Acqua Vergine, an aqueduct from 19 BCE. Bernini built this fountain to be slightly below street level due to the low water pressure from the aqueduct. Water flows from seven points of fountain: the center baluster; two inside the boat from sun-shaped human faces; and four outside the boat.

 

According to legend, as River Tiber flooded in 1598, water carried a small boat into the Piazza di Spagna. When the water receded, a boat was deposited in the center of the square, and it was this event that inspired Bernini's creation. The fountain is decorated with the papal coat of arms of the Barberini family as a reminder of Pope Urban VIII's ancestry.

CC0-Source-000001-002484(Kaleidoscope)

Source: Chatelaine, December 1967

Source: www.oldcarcityusa.com/

 

Old Car City in White, Georgia contains the worlds largest known classic car junkyard. Visitors enjoy the beautiful vegetation of the deep south that is intertwined with the hundreds of cars that reside in Old Car City. Old Car City started as a small general store in 1931 and is still family owned and operated. Come enjoy the Old South environment, folk art, ghosts of beautiful classic cars, and much more! With over 34 acres and over 4000 American-made cars from the early 20th Century, these cars, trucks, vans, and even a couple school buses are placed in such a way as to be ideally suited for photos, videos and custom camera shoots. Over the 8 decades since first started, thousands of photographers, videographers, ad agencies and media companies have visited Old Car City USA. Popular news magazine and newspaper companies, like CBS Sunday Morning, the New York Times, the BBC and Georgia Public Television, have made press releases and/or video segments and transmitted it worldwide. Mayor of Old Car City USA, Dean Lewis, welcomes all who come out to visit his varied collection of automobile art with a little help from Mother Nature. You can come and just stroll along with winding paths for a nominal fee or, for a few dollars more, bring a camera and take pictures and/or videos and share them with friends. Among the many cars at Old Car City USA, there is the last car Elvis Presley ever bought back in 1977 just a couple months before he died. Also, a movie starring Andy Griffith and Johnny Cash used one of the cars that now call this place "home." The honorary mayor of the "City," Dean Lewis, is also an artist in his own rite with some of the most unique canvas...the styrofoam cup. In his upstairs loft, Lewis has hundreds of styrofoam canvases featuring his artistic talents on display along with some paintings he will proudly show off.

©All photographs on this site are copyright: ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2021 & GETTY IMAGES ®

  

No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams). No image may be used as source material for paintings, drawings, sculptures, or any other art form without permission and/or compensation to ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)

 

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I would like to say a huge and heartfelt 'THANK YOU' to GETTY IMAGES, and the 49.426+ Million visitors to my FLICKR site.

  

***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on Thursday 22nd February 2024

  

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This photograph became my 6,959th frame to be selected for sale in the Getty Images collection and I am very grateful to them for this wonderful opportunity.

  

©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)

  

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Photograph taken at an altitude of Twenty metres at 13:50pm on Friday 17th February 2024, off the Mall and Horse Guards Road within the grounds of St James's Park in Central London, one of the Royal parks of London situated in South West London.

  

Here we see a Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) in the lake. These large birds can weigh 2.8kg and have a wingspan up to 160cms. Conservation status is green in the UK with 9,018 pairs recorded in 2023.

 

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Nikon D850 Focal length 600mm Shutter speed: 1/500s (Mechanical shutter) Aperture f/6.3 ISO: Auto ISO3200 Hand held with Tamron VR Vibration reduction enabled on setting 1. Image area FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW L (8256 x 5504). (14 bit uncompressed file) Focus mode AF-C focus. AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled AF-Area mode: 3D-Tracking Exposure mode: Manual mode Metering mode: Matrix metering White balance on: Natural light Auto, 0, 0 Colour space: RGB. Picture control: Neutral (NL) (Sharpening +2.00)

  

Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Black Rapid Curve Breathe strap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag.

  

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LATITUDE: N 51d 30m 12.40s

LONGITUDE: W 0d 7m 46.50s

ALTITUDE: 20.0m

  

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 59.5MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 33.30MB

     

PROCESSING POWER:

 

Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (18/02/20) LF 1.00

 

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit Version 1.4.1 (18/02/2020). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.13.5. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.

   

Source: Scan of an original photograph.

Set: COA01.

Date: c1910.

Repository: From the collection of Mrs Coates.

Used here by her very kind permission.

 

Local Studies at Swindon Central Library.

www.swindon.gov.uk/localstudies

Cette photo a été prise à l'Étang des coteaux à Mascouche, une journée avant la tempête qui vient de nous frapper.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttgart

 

Stuttgart (Swabian: Schduagert) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Stuttgart is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known locally as the "Stuttgart Cauldron." It lies an hour from the Swabian Jura and the Black Forest. Its urban area has a population of 609,219, making it the sixth largest city in Germany. 2.7 million people live in the city's administrative region and another 5.3 million people in its metropolitan area, making it the fourth largest metropolitan area in Germany. The city and metropolitan area are consistently ranked among the top 20 European metropolitan areas by GDP; Mercer listed Stuttgart as 21st on its 2015 list of cities by quality of living, innovation agency 2thinknow ranked the city 24th globally out of 442 cities and the Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranked the city as a Beta-status world city in their 2014 survey.

 

Since the 6th millennium BC, the Stuttgart area has been an important agricultural area and has been host to a number of cultures seeking to utilize the rich soil of the Neckar valley. The Roman Empire conquered the area in 83 AD and built a massive castrum near Bad Cannstatt, making it the most important regional centre for several centuries. Stuttgart's roots were truly laid in the 10th century with its founding by Liudolf, Duke of Swabia, as a stud farm for his warhorses. Initially overshadowed by nearby Cannstatt, the town grew steadily and was granted a charter in 1320. The fortunes of Stuttgart turned with those of the House of Württemberg, and they made it the capital of their county, duchy, and kingdom from the 15th century to 1918. Stuttgart prospered despite setbacks in the Thirty Years' War and devastating air raids by the Allies on the city and its automobile production during World War II. However, by 1952, the city had bounced back and it became the major economic, industrial, tourism and publishing centre it is today.

 

Stuttgart is also a transport junction, and possesses the sixth-largest airport in Germany. Several major companies are headquartered in Stuttgart, including Porsche, Bosch, Mercedes-Benz, Daimler AG, and Dinkelacker.

 

Stuttgart is unusual in the scheme of German cities. It is spread across a variety of hills (some of them covered in vineyards), valleys (especially around the Neckar river and the Stuttgart basin) and parks. This often surprises visitors who associate the city with its reputation as the "cradle of the automobile". The city's tourism slogan is "Stuttgart offers more". Under current plans to improve transport links to the international infrastructure (as part of the Stuttgart 21 project), the city unveiled a new logo and slogan in March 2008 describing itself as "Das neue Herz Europas" ("The new Heart of Europe"). For business, it describes itself as "Where business meets the future". In July 2010, Stuttgart unveiled a new city logo, designed to entice more business people to stay in the city and enjoy breaks in the area.

 

Stuttgart is a city with a high number of immigrants. According to Dorling Kindersley's Eyewitness Travel Guide to Germany, "In the city of Stuttgart, every third inhabitant is a foreigner." 40% of Stuttgart's residents, and 64% of the population below the age of five, are of immigrant background.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernsehturm_Stuttgart

 

Fernsehturm Stuttgart (English: Stuttgart TV Tower) is a 216.61 m (710.7 ft) telecommunications tower in Stuttgart, Germany. It was the first telecommunications tower in the world constructed from reinforced concrete, and it is the prototype for many such towers worldwide. Although controversial at first, it quickly became a well known landmark of Stuttgart and a tourist attraction.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis

 

St. Louis is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers, on the western bank of the latter. As of 2020, the city proper had a population of around 301,500, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which extends into Illinois, had an estimated population of over 2.8 million, making it the largest metropolitan area in Missouri, the second-largest in Illinois, the seventh-largest in the Great Lakes Megalopolis, and the 20th-largest in the United States.

 

Before European settlement, the area was a regional center of Native American Mississippian culture. St. Louis was founded on February 14, 1764, by French fur traders Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent, Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, who named it for Louis IX of France. In 1764, following France's defeat in the Seven Years' War, the area was ceded to Spain. In 1800, it was retroceded to France, which sold it three years later to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase; the city was then the point of embarkation for the Corps of Discovery on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In the 19th century, St. Louis became a major port on the Mississippi River; from 1870 until the 1920 census, it was the fourth-largest city in the country. It separated from St. Louis County in 1877, becoming an independent city and limiting its own political boundaries. St. Louis had a brief run as a world-class city in the early 20th century. In 1904, it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Summer Olympics.

 

A "Gamma" global city with a metropolitan GDP of more than $160 billion in 2017, metropolitan St. Louis has a diverse economy with strengths in the service, manufacturing, trade, transportation, and tourism industries. It is home to nine of the ten Fortune 500 companies based in Missouri. Major companies headquartered or with significant operations in the city include Ameren Corporation, Peabody Energy, Nestlé Purina PetCare, Anheuser-Busch, Wells Fargo Advisors, Stifel Financial, Spire, Inc., MilliporeSigma, FleishmanHillard, Square, Inc., U.S. Bank, Anthem BlueCross and Blue Shield, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Centene Corporation, and Express Scripts.

 

Major research universities include Saint Louis University and Washington University in St. Louis. The Washington University Medical Center in the Central West End neighborhood hosts an agglomeration of medical and pharmaceutical institutions, including Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

 

St. Louis has three professional sports teams: the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, and the St. Louis BattleHawks of the newly formed XFL. In 2019, the city was awarded a Major League Soccer franchise, St. Louis City SC, which is expected to begin play upon the completion of a 22,500-seat stadium in the city's Downtown West neighborhood in 2023. Among the city's notable sights is the 630-foot (192 m) Gateway Arch in the downtown area. St. Louis is also home to the St. Louis Zoo and the Missouri Botanical Garden, which has the second-largest herbarium in North America.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Louis_Art_Museum

 

The Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the principal U.S. art museums, with paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from all corners of the world. Its three-story building stands in Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri, where it is visited by up to a half million people every year. Admission is free through a subsidy from the cultural tax district for St. Louis City and County.

 

In addition to the featured exhibitions, the museum offers rotating exhibitions and installations. These include the Currents series, which features contemporary artists, as well as regular exhibitions of new media art and works on paper.

 

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Park_(St._Louis)

 

Forest Park is a public park in western St. Louis, Missouri. It is a prominent civic center and covers 1,326 acres (5.37 km2). Opened in 1876, more than a decade after its proposal, the park has hosted several significant events, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 and the 1904 Summer Olympics. Bounded by Washington University in St. Louis, Skinker Boulevard, Lindell Boulevard, Kingshighway Boulevard, and Oakland Avenue, it is known as the "Heart of St. Louis" and features a variety of attractions, including the St. Louis Zoo, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Missouri History Museum, and the St. Louis Science Center.

 

Since the early 2000s, it has carried out a $100 million restoration through a public-private partnership aided by its Master Plan. Changes have extended to improving landscaping and habitat as well. The park's acreage includes meadows and trees and a variety of ponds, manmade lakes, and freshwater streams. For several years, the park has been restoring prairie and wetlands areas of the park. It has reduced flooding and attracted a much greater variety of birds and wildlife, which have settled in the new natural habitats.

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321/365 - Our Daily Challenge - "Light":

 

"The people living in darkness have seen a great Light". Matthew 4:16

 

I was very glad to get this topic today, mainly because of something my daughter told me Sunday. Her pastor (an artist) showed some slides of paintings of the madonna and child and pointed out something we've never noticed before...that in the earliest paintings the source of light was always the Christ child. How amazing, since scripture tells us Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12)! Ever since she shared that with me, I've been trying to think how I might portray that in a photograph. This is as close as I could get. (Light source was a small votive candle behind the manger...followed by a fair amount of post processing.) BTW...I noticed something new about this today that I've never paid attention to before. Jesus' body is stretched out much as it is depicted on most crucifix. How poignant.

 

The nativity was given to me about 30 years ago by my aunt. There are about 10 other figures, but I chose to capture a more intimate scene. At any rate, my aunt is an artist and created 6 unique sets that year, one for each of my siblings and my parents. The wooden stable was a gift from my mom and dad which they bought in Jerusalem...hand crafted from olive wood. I love unpacking these every Christmas.

 

Listening to Point of Grace this morning ("Let there be Light") - www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hGxigjD_Pg

 

Nikon D5000, 35mm

Better on black...Please hit L.

Artist: Damian Michaels

Medium: Biro ink on paper

Size: A4

Collection of the Musee de la Creation Franche

This is one of my primary sources for the theme Earth, Air, Fire and Water. After exploring the topic of reflections further I became more interested and inspired by how water looks in reflected light. I found an artist named Elana Kalis who captures photographs from an underwater point of view with different themes in each. I like how an object or person can look completely different from an underwater perspective. I was very inspired by Elana's work so decided to try and take some of my own. I used a DSLR camera to take these photographs which I thought worked very well as I was able to capture every detail with the water, including the reflections and bubbles, and also within the model's face and emotion.

 

Another thing that interests me is the surface of water, I like how ripples look in a photograph and how they make an image look more intriguing. When taking my underwater images I made the model open their eyes and have their hair down so it could float out by itself creating what I think is a great effect. I feel my photoshoot went very well I am am very happy with the result I have. I like how an emotion or storyline could be put to any one of my photo's and would link in well. For example most of my images are almost shocking and horror like. This is because they link in with drowning which is a very unpleasant or depressing thing to look at. After taking these images I feel I am very confident about what theme my final piece should be about. I am definitely looking towards underwater photography for it also as I feel it looks very interesting and has a great shock factor. Also, it links in nicely with the given theme of Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

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