Architectural Details Archives - Rachel Cohen Photography

“IDS and Foshay Towers Minneapolis”

May 9, 2015June 25, 2014 by Rachel

On my last visit to Minneapolis MN. I spent a day in this beautiful city just wondering around the streets essentially with my eye to the sky.

My original destination was The Foshay Tower, which I went to first. I toured the inside, then went to the observation deck for the spectacular view from the top. I love the historical aspect of the architecture there! You’ll see the Foshay Tower in the last image.

The IDS Tower was the building that called for my attention next! It’s such a lovely building with it’s glass facade, angles, and height. Two of the images below are from one frame and processed differently. The third image is from a slightly different angle of the same building that reveals some of the reflections of other structures in the area.

I really like the sharp edges and deep contrast of the architecture of the IDS Tower itself. When processing I also used high contrast in these two images, whether color or monochrome. Only the last image is done in a softer tone.

The IDS Tower is 57 stories tall, it became the tallest skyscraper in Minneapolis when it surpassed the height of the Foshay Tower, which is 32 stories tall. This happened in 1972, which then ended the Foshay Tower’s 43-year reign over the Minneapolis skyline. In addition to being a lot taller, The IDS Tower occupies much more real estate than the Foshay does. The Foshay Tower was desighed to look more like the Washington Monument so it has an obelisk-like look to it.

Enjoy these images from a small part of Minneapolis as you look to the sky. Be careful don’t strain your neck! 😉

“IDS Tower Framed” mono

“IDS Tower Framed”

“IDS Tower Reflections” mono

“Foshay Tower” monochrome

“Shadows Light and Bridges”

September 29, 2014April 24, 2014 by Rachel

While in the middle of processing images from last autumn, I came across many from the Sculpture Garden I visited in Minneapolis MN. appropriately called The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden! It is an 11 acre site and contains more than 40 works of art as well as a conservatory, flower gardens, and more.

This beautiful bridge is part of that garden. A sculpture or work of art in itself, and also crosses over the 16 lanes of highway and streets below. It is used as a pedestrian bridge. For which I was truly grateful!

It is called “The Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge”. The artist is a local Twin Cities based man by the name of Siah Armajani. The bridge was finished in 1988. Mr. Armajani used three types of bridge structure here. Beam, Arch, and suspension. He also commissioned a renowned American poet by the name of John Ashbery to write a poem to be a part of the structure. A meditation on movement, place, order, and crossing. The words can be seen across the upper side beams in both directions, running the full length of the structure!

On this particular early autumn day, after a quick look see at some of the sculptures, I spotted this bridge. I climbed the stairs and just stood there in awe of this structure! The geometry involved was wonderful in detail, and with the late morning sun hitting it just right, the shadows were intensely beautiful!

Thankfully there weren’t too many people there at the time, so I didn’t have to wait very long to get a nice empty bridge for this beautiful view!

This image just called out to me saying “Monochrome”. So I ended up processing it both in color and of course mono. I really love how the shadows crisscross each other in lovely geometric patterns. They really stand out! Somehow it also gives a dizzing feel when you stare down the middle!

I hope you enjoy this image. I may be bringing you more from this wonderful location!

"Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge" Minneapolis MN. — “Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge”
Minneapolis MN.

“Front Royal Town Square”

August 10, 2013 by Rachel

This past spring I had the opportunity to spend some time not only in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but also a little wandering around some small towns, especially Front Royal, Virginia. My favorite area of course was the historic district.

This scene is of part of the town square, which isn’t actually shaped like a square, but it is a lovely park with a beautiful gazebo in the center, in the historic district.

I decided to go really wide with this shot. I would like to have had a Fisheye, but didn’t have one unfortunately! Maybe next time! 🙂

The colors and tones really came out nicely against the beauty of the blue sky and clouds. It was a picture perfect day!!

After spending a few hours walking up and down the streets of Front Royal, I headed up into the mountains. The weather you see here was totally different from what I experienced just a few miles away, and a couple of thousand feet higher in elevation.

If you’ve been checking out any of my images on 500px. You may have noticed that! 🙂

“Front Royal Town Square”

“Salt”

April 2, 2013 by Rachel

When you look at the title of this image, then actually take a look at the photo. You may wonder why such a title? Well I’ll explain. First of all let me tell you that it was a cold late winter”s day when I took this. I was on the same architectural photo hunt that I mentioned to you in my previous post.

After going around the main part of the central campus of The University of Michigan, I headed off towards the direction of the hospital, which is still part of the school. There are plenty of medical school buildings there as well.

After turning onto a side street I happened upon the building you see here. I really wanted to get out of the car and take in the whole of the building, but I wasn’t able to, I searched everywhere for some place to park. I knew I just had to have an image of this place although I had no idea even what it was from the vantage point I was in.

Being that it was in the middle of the day, on a busy week day. There were cars, and people everywhere, and no way for me to actually park and roam around. So I did the only thing I could.

I put my car in park, put on my flashers, right in front of the building and took a few photos of the entrance area. I loved the style of architecture, looking like that of something from the U.K.!

In the color version of this image you can see all the embellishment and the crest above the doorway really standing out in on the brick. You can see it here too, but not quite the same.

You may also notice bunches of snow still piled up along the stairs and entry area. Well this is where the title comes in.

When I was processing this photo, I noticed there was quite a bit of salt that had been put down on the stairs and walkway. The salt was blue in color, so of course it was not plain salt, but one mixed with additives to melt ice. This didn’t look very nice, but it also wasn’t very practical to take it out of the photo either.

So I opted to leave it in, and do a monochrome version, and then title it “Salt”. Since I didn’t know the name of the structure, I had to search it up. I came to know that it is the Kinesiology Building. Part of the U of M, and also has a sign on another area that says Observatory Lodge. I’ll find out more about it in the future.

I’m planning on going back there again. Probably in the warm weather, when I’m able to get out of the car, find an actual parking space, and get a full view of this lovely piece of architecture. I know you’ll love seeing the complete structure too!

For now, I leave you with “Salt” in monochrome!

“Reflecting Angles”

March 28, 2013 by Rachel

On a recent foray out into the wilds of Ann Arbor 😉 , I went in search of architecture, and architectural details to photograph.

There are so many great opportunities for all types of architecture there! Historic, modern, art deco, and just about anything you can imagine. All within a few miles of each other including on the Central Campus of the University of Michigan.

I love to get angles of many types of subjects, and of course of those is buildings. This image comes from an area of the C.S. Mott children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.

It was a very busy time of day, on a weekday. Which probably isn’t the best time for shooting, so I spent my time focusing up rather than down. I liked this angle not only because of the lines and shape of the structure itself, but for another reason. What started out as a cold, but sunny winter day, suddenly transitioned to a cloudy and snowy one! What you see in the upper left hand side of this image, is an area of clouds, which was the leading edge of the transition from sunshine and blue skies back to clouds and snow.

The beautiful blue of the sky was reflected in the windows of the structure, which I really liked. I continued to do many different shots as the sky changed, but this one is my favorite because of the timing. I also converted this to a monochrome image which will be on my site. The monochrome also has a nice punch to it! Very deep and dark!

Stay tuned for more architecture!! 🙂