Return to Fountain Square

Fountain Square is one of the six cultural districts in Indianapolis, and its resurrection 20 years ago from an extended period of neglect is one of the most remarkable stories in Central Indiana. But for the past two years, the heart of the district has been under siege by construction, as it is transformed yet again in the last stages of the development of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail.

I made my first visits to photograph this interesting, if quaint, area just southeast of downtown, back in July 2009. I made two visits then -- once during daylight, and another at night. As the galleries from those shoots indicate, I elected to do something I'd not done before or since with the images I made from those shoots: present them all in monochrome.

I was back in Fountain Square last week, joining members of the Indianapolis Photographic Society in a project to photo-document the community. A lot has changed since 2009; the original fountain has been returned, for example. This time, I decided to stick to color in most instances, as the Cultural Trail construction to date has given the district an uplifting, contemporary look while retaining the old-school charm. I did copy several images into monochrome versions and was pleased with the results. Finally, the vast majority of images you see here were bracketed for exposure for high-dynamic range (HDR) treatment in post-processing.

On the night we shot, May 15, and for that whole week, it turned out, there were amusement rides and food vendors set up in the open parking lot behind Subway's between Morris and Sanders streets, on the west side of Shelby Street. I'll present images taken from the carnival area in a separate post next up.  As you can tell from some of the images in this post and in the gallery (link below), the construction is not over. A lot of what's remaining is right at the fountain, where Shelby and Prospect streets meet Virginia Avenue.

The society is planning to make additional visits in the weeks ahead and, in the meantime, kick around ideas about what to do with our work at some point thereafter. There already has been talk of seeking to display the pictures in galleries or businesses in the district, and possibly even putting the images into a book.

In the meantime, you can find my Fountain Square 2012 images at my SmugMug gallery. There are likely more to come after the subsequent shoots.

At the bottom of the post,  I conclude with monochrome conversions of two of my favorites from the shoot -- the image leading off this post (top) and the one immediately below. The first monochrome, a vista of the downtown skyline using an ultra-wide angle lens, is traditional black-and-white; the second, the one of the Fountain Square Center/Southeast Community Services building immediately below, is a modified sepia, a filter called "antique."

Getting a 'new' look at Indy skyline

After a quick (just under two hours) shoot Thursday afternoon at the Indianapolis Zoo, I took a first-ever stroll down a beautifully landscaped pedestrian bridge over White River, just behind the zoo, on what used to be the extension of West Washington Street, the Indianapolis portion of U.S. 40, also known as the National Road.

If you're not familiar with Indianapolis, the zoo opened in its current location in 1988, moving from its original East 30th Street site, about 7.5 miles northeast in Washington Park, where it was established in 1964. The "new" zoo was the first attraction to open in White River State Park, one of the city's six designated cultural districts. Later to emerge in the park, developed around the scenic downtown section of the Indianapolis Canal, were White River Gardens, Eiteljorg Museum of Indians and Western Art, the Indiana State Museum (which moved there from its initial location at Alabama and Market streets) and IMAX theater, the NCAA national headquarters and Hall of Champions, the National Federation of State High School Associations, Victory Field (home of the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians baseball team) and the congressional Medal of Honor Memorial, established across the canal from the State Museum.

This pedestrian bridge is wide; now part of the White River Wapahani Trail, in its years as the continuation of Washington Street, it used to be one of the highest-traffic thoroughfares in Indianapolis. The city chose to close this section off as part of the park development and reroute Washington Street south to form the park's southern boundary before reconnecting with the original Washington Street at White River Parkway, West Drive.

It accommodate two generously wide brick-paved paths separated by an equally generous lawn and sculpture-populated median. The view of the heart-of-downtown skyline by eastbound walkers took on a riveting bonus in the past year with the completion and opening of the "blue," sparkling and reflective J.W. Marriott hotel skyscraper. I put "blue" in quotes because this blue is chamelon-like, especially when using a circular polarizing filter, which I did for all of these shots. The "blue" can look a true blue, fully turquoise or a bit of both, depending on your vantage point and how the sun is striking it. Both sides of the bridge are adorned with artsy banners spaced apart equally for the length of the span.

For many of the shots I took on this portion of my shoot, I bracketed my exposures for possible treatment in high-dynamic range (HDR) software. The lead-off photo is an HDR rendering, as as its vertical orientation (second below) and many others you see below. I'm sure the Marriott's blue color can be affected by HDR software treatment to an extent, but I want to quickly note that I saw several instances in which a single, normal-exposure image showed the building's color both blue and turquoise at the same time.

Above: If only a boat could have been in the vicinity, I'd have had a rare shot of four modes of transportation -- train, bike and vehicle are on the bridge -- in one photograph.