These unusual grotesque caryatid pilasters are seldom noticed by visitors admiring the famous Dollar Bank lions, but they add to the impression of Victorian exuberance in the Dollar Bank’s façade.
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Roses of Sharon
Roses of Sharon are literally weeds in the city, though often planted as ornamentals. The colors are quite variable when they grow from seed. These were all volunteer seedlings that grew into prosperous bushes.
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The Royal (and Its Neighbor)
The Royal was one of at least four movie houses on the South Side. From the architectural style we can guess that it was one of the earlier ones, dating from the silent era. These two buildings are currently under restoration.
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Sweeping the Cathedral Steps
In old-postcard colors, a view of the front steps of St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland.
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St. George’s Serbian Orthodox Church, South Side
Like most of the other churches on the South Side, this one—at 15th and Roland Streets—has been repurposed, in this case as a studio. But its outward appearance has hardly changed.
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Lion on the Keystone Bank Building
A splendid lion roars over the entrance to the Keystone Bank Building on Fourth Avenue.
Camera: Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3.
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PPG Place Reflected in PPG Place
The distinctive pinnacles of PPG Place are reflected in more PPG Place across the street.
Camera: Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3
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A Stroll Down Sarah Street
Sarah Street is the most splendid residential street in the New Birmingham section of the South Side—the part from 17th Street eastward that was developed after the Civil War. “Splendid” is relative, of course: even the richest parts of the South Side were not millionaires’ neighborhoods. But there are many fine and substantial Victorian rowhouses on Sarah.
Although Carson Street is the commercial spine of the South Side, commercial buildings also sprouted on the back streets, and Sarah Street has some good Victorian commercial architecture. Some of the buildings are still backstreet bars or stores; others have had their ground floors turned into apartments.
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Union National Bank Building
The Union National Bank Building of 1906 is one of the most splendid of the Fourth Avenue bank towers. It was designed by the prolific and tasteful MacClure and Spahr. As “The Carlyle,” it is now a luxury condo tower.
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There’s No Such Thing as Correct Exposure
Old Pa Pitt often tells young photographers that there’s no such thing as correct exposure. He likes to make dogmatic pronouncements like that and watch their reactions. But this is what he means. These two pictures of the skyline at night are taken at quite different exposures (two whole stops apart, in fact). The one above is the kind of exposure you will usually see in a night shot of a city skyline. The one below is much closer to the way the skyline actually appears to the eye of the observer. Which is correct? Neither, of course. It is a matter of taste, and of creating the image you, the photographer, wish to create.
