T13 # 13 | Pictures from the Earth: Landscapes & Cityscapes by Patrick Boury

Fellow Thirteeners, my spouse and I are not fans of the day, which is either year round or nothing at all. My husband, Nicholas, averred that if there was going to be a list of 13 things I'm fond of about him circulated on the internet, he'd prefer to write them himself.

Instead, consider the following my Valentine's Day gift to you.  Many of you know one thing I love is photography.

<Click the image to go to the Thursday 13 website.  (Join us!)

Photographer and filmmaker Patrick Boury shares some truly astonishing landscapes and cityscapes through Flickr.  He kindly agreed to allow me to include his work in my 'Pictures from the Earth' series of photo essays.

 Did you ever see landscape photography so visually powerful or color and light so vibrant and dazzling that you could feel your eyes dilate and your pulses start to pound?  That's how these photographs affect me.  They are powerful.  I stare into them longingly, as if they were little windows.  They pull you in.

Did I need to comment on them?  Could I not have just let the photos speak for themselves?  Yes, I could have done that.  But most of these are photographs I've pondered at some length.  If you just glance at them there are things you might not consciously see before you move on.  As a child, I used to read art books because they helped me see details I would otherwise have perceived but not seen.  And these are photographs that cry out to be seen.  If you don't have long to look, my comments may help.  If you do, you can just scroll right past them.

  ...though I won't say much about this San Francisco Street, seen from a literally This is one of my favorite photographs in all of Flickr.   different angle, so familiar in some respects; so unknown in others.  I love photographs of commercial buildings and I love color (especially red and green), so.

Well, okay, they all are.  But this is one of my MOST favorite favorites. 

Second Street Color---San Francisco, CA by Patrick Boury   | click here to see his Flickr photostream | click here to see larger version of this photo (on Flickr).

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or download this photograph without first consulting the terms of the applicable license.   The license is shown here.

One rarely sees a photo of this bridge that reveals this depth of color.  Here, the slate-colored sky creates the perfect foil.

"Dark Gate 4" by Patrick Boury   | click here to see his Flickr photostream | click here to see a larger version of this photo (on Flickr).

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or download this photograph without first consulting the terms of the applicable license.   The license is shown here
.

This next photograph well illustrates the transformative power of light.  Look how at the closer end, the bridge stands out so brilliantly against the sky.  The colors alternate between a pastel sherbert orange and a deeper, tangier color; further on, the color is darker, almost vermilion.  The floating web of cloud gives a peculiar depth to the celestial blue of the sky behind it.  At first glance you might be too entranced with the little breakers and the reflection of the bridge in them to see the rainbow arc in the distance which disappears into the thickest area of cloud.

Does a rainbow, or half a rainbow, exist if no one can see? 

(7) "Rainbow 5" by Patrick Boury  | click here to see Flickr photostream | click here to see larger version of this photo (on Flickr).

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or download this photograph without first consulting the terms of the applicable license.   The license is shown here

Here's one I love to ponder.  Consider the warm, sun-drenched yellow on the left, and the rather eerie green light contained with the windows of the terra-cotta colored building.  Note the single streak of sunset red that offsets the watery blue reflections of the lights in the rain drenched street.  There's a touch of orange light near the green.  Somehow the yellow and red lights, despite the charcoal tints of the sky and street and the cold blues and greens, make this scene----commercial streets with no traffic always look so forlorn---- seem quite cheerful. And what's that silvery streak on the left that seems to be cutting across the sky?  A wire?  A jet taking off?  An alien vessel on its way back to the Mother Ship? Or just a flight of urbanized angels?

(It's an interesting counterpoint to the preceding photogaraph, which had a streak of spectral color off to the right.)

3rd at 19th Muni Platform" by Patrick Boury | click here to see his Flickr photostream) |  click here to see larger version of this photo (on Flickr).\

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or download this photograph without first consulting the terms of the applicable license.   The license is shown here

This photo (which he just posted today) is going to require some serious gazing before I've fully construed it.  The houses on the right, and the tree on the left, are so still and uninvolved.  It's like a ghost train passing by---technology piercing right through this quiet-looking street.  Consider the curious shadows under the trees and the pale orange sunburst hanging in the sky behind the buildings.

"Muni on Duboce at the Church Street Station" by Patrick Boury | click here to see his Flickr photostream) |  click here to see larger version of this photo (on Flickr). 

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or download this photograph without first consulting the terms of the applicable license.   The license is shown here.

Though the first thing you see is the luminous yellow building (touched with green, blue-green, and a nuance of blue) surrounded by palms.  But look how the highway off to the left is streaked with a neon-tinted streak of vermilion.  Look at the glowing pink and blue buildings in the background.  Then move forward and notice that all this gold and green light show is set like a jewel in in the middle of a quiet, ordinary swathe of grass.  By contrast, the inn seems unstable---illusory--- as if it might melt away in the next eyeblink.

Pleasanton Inn 2  by Patrick Boury | click here to see his Flickr photostream); click here to see larger version of this photo (on Flickr).

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or download this photograph without first consulting the terms of the applicable license.   The license is shown here.

Could anything be more charming or moving than these painted ladies huddling together on the crest of this hill?  There's a sort of sweep of  soft neutral colors in the center, but with touches here and there of deep apricot, red, pink and---over to the right---a single, shining royal blue.  

"Crest Color" by Patrick Boury (<click to see Flickr photostream); click here to see larger version of this photo (on Flickr).

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or download this photograph without first consulting the terms of the applicable license.   The license is shown here

Thanks, everyone, for commenting:

1. Susie J.
2. Di's Book Blog
3. Bethany's Paradise
4. Blue Star Chronicles
5. Tuesday Update
6. Loose Leaf Notes
7. Cabbie's
8. A Gentleman's Domain
9. Infinity Goods
10. Alasandra
11. Bazzer
12. Around the Island
13. Vixen
14. Lesley Speller.com
15. West of Mars
16. Small Reflections
17. Xakara
18. Moondancer Drake's Hearth
19. Nicole Austin
20. Raven

Comments

[susiej]

These are just beautiful. Makes me want to hop on a plane!

[Di]

I love the houses on the hills...they remind me of a little neighborhood in San Diego where we took our children to show them how hilly it can be. (They grew up partly in Florida where speed bumps were about the only hills we dealt with.)

[Bethany]

Oh wow, those are gorgeous! Certainly makes me want to go back to Cali for a visit. I think my next TT will be in pictures :)

[betj]

The photos are absolutely stunning. I'm so glad you added your comments. I don't know which is more descriptive, your comments or the pictures.

[colleen]

What a treat! Non fatting yet sweet. I'm thinking the first one looks like building confetti.

[Cabbie]

I love the landscapes. You put a lot of effort into your T13, and it shows. I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for visiting my very first T13

[tommie]

I used to live in Pleasanton! Small world! Happy Thursday!

[Nicholas]

Wonderful photos and very interesting descriptions!

[Michelle B]

Fabulous photos. Thanks for sharing!

[Infinity Goods]

Very good choice of photos. The colors are so vibrant even in the night shots. They are very interesting. #10 is full of opposites contrasting each other. I like the sunburst effect on the streetlights too.

[Alasandra]

Nice photos. Thanks for visiting me TT.

[Bazzer Higgins]

Very beautiful pictures, especially the Golden gate Bridge.

[Michelle@mominmentalmotion]

I love them! Great list. Happy TT!

[Robin]

These make me long to return to San Francisco and lose myself in its mysteries.

My husband's aunt and uncle live in one of those painted ladies and I've always found their neighborhood one of the world's most enchanting.

[Vixen]

You are so right about how powerful these photos are. Amazing. It makes me miss my hometown (I grew up there). Sigh.

Happy TT.

[Lesley]

I love the last one! It's so pretty. The houses almost look like toys.

[Susan Helene Gottfried]

Oh, you are SO making me miss the Bay Area! Especially with the Writer's Conference just starting up out there... ugh. I SO want to be there. It's not fair.

[storyteller]

Wonderful wonderful wonderful!!! These are magnificent. Thanks for sharing.
Hugs and blessings,

[Xakara]

Anything that brings bits of the world to me is always a gift, so thank you!

Happy...Today. :)

~X

[Moondancer Drake]

I think #13 is my fav. Such amazing visuals.

[Nicole Austin]

The photos are amazing! I can't imagine living so cramped together as in #13. Wow!

[Linda R. Moore]

Brilliant choice of pictures. :) I love a slate gray sky: it's often a wonderful foil for any bright object.

Thanks for visiting my TT. I did one at each of the four Raven blogs this week (roads, rides, range, rv).