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Fleur Blüm

~ writer, performer, musician

Fleur Blüm

Tag Archives: Washington D.C.

USA – Urban Monuments

30 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by toearlyretirement in Photo Essay, Travel

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Canon 1100D, Graceland, Las Vegas, Memphis, New York, Photo Essay, Photography, Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, Washington D.C.

Post number six in my collections from the US; urban monuments. There are some places that just inspire photos, and a lot of them that are from New York! It’s like I’m all about the east coast.

I like the idea that these are man made objects that have become the object of worship and awe. There is something about these places that triggers a response to take photos in tourists, this reflex to capture the moment, even though you may never look through your photos again.

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Grand Central Station with at least one person coming from the LGBTIQ Pride Parade, can you spot them?

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The New York City Public Library. This reminded me really strongly of a scene in the Harry Potter Lego video game, and when I showed a colleague at work they said the State Library in Melbourne was better.

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Radio City Music Hall. I really liked the art deco stylings and the use of neon lights, it’s very different to a lot of the stuff you get here in Melbourne.

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The classic night time shot of Times’ Square. I actually didn’t enjoy it that much (the Broadway show I saw excluded, because that was amazing!), it was full of other tourists and street hawkers trying to get money from me, but it was definitely an experience I am glad I had.

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Manhattan city skyline from the top of the Rockefeller building. The day was weirdly overcast, but still very warm and glarey.

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Obligatory photo of Lady Liberty. It was the same day as the photo of the skyline but the sun had come out by then. I tried to get a bit arty with the angle, I’m not sure I succeeded.

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World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. Each of the pillars you can see in the background represents a state and their contribution (and losses).

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On the fourth of July the Washington Monument was lit up by fireworks as the sun set; it was pretty spectacular. Unfortunately the monument is still covered in scaffolding because it split during an earthquake a couple of years ago.

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This is Elvis’ grave at Graceland, Memphis. You can see from the contributions left there that people literally worship it. According to the guided narration device, they will display any and all tributes on the grave until such time as the elements degrade them. The graves along side are Elvis’ parents and twin brother who died as an infant. I must say it’s weird visiting graves when the weather is nice, it seems unfitting.

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To contrast the impressive image of the original Lady Liberty, here is a shot of the replica in Las Vegas. There is something about the city that makes me wary; some seething underbelly of human misery upon which these glittering, gaudy monuments are built.

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The last photo in this group is of Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach. The weather here was a bit strange, it was a little bit cold, and the clouds were coming down over the hills behind the ferris wheel. I think it was also a lot less busy because it was not a nice day so I got a different feeling of the area than what’s shown in movies and TV. It’s hard to imagine this as the Baywatch Beach from this photo.

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USA – Food

24 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by toearlyretirement in Photo Essay, Travel

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Austin, Canon 1100D, Food porn, New Mexico, New Orleans, New York, Photo Essay, Photography, Texas, USA, Virginia, Washington D.C.

As the fourth in my instalments of themed photos from my trip, I present FOOD.

Yes I was one of those people who whipped out the DSLR at restaurants and cafes and fast food stops, and you know what? I don’t care! I was on holiday and I wanted photos of what I ate. I put a lot of emphasis on eating, it’s one of my favourite things, and here are the photos to prove that American food can be pretty darn good!

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Nachos in New York. The Americans seem to have a love for liquid cheese, which is fine while it’s still hot, but ends up being sort of disconcertingly shiny when it cools down.

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Frogurt with various toppings in New York. I bought this on my way back from seeing a show on Broadway (it was a version of MacBeth with Alan Cummings and it was extremely good).

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New York Pizza; bought from a place near the ferry I took to go around the harbour and see the Statue of Liberty. I have to say, it wasn’t that good, but I probably didn’t go to the best pizza place so I can’t hold that against the New Yorkers.

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Tortilla soup in Washington D.C. It was really tasty, but not that hot (to me anyway). I spent a lot of time in the US smothering things in hot sauce. MMmmmm, hot sauce.

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After having hot tortilla soup we wanted smoothies. I think we were hoping for something with a bit more fruit and ice, but we ended up with very tasty yogurt and milk ones.

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From memory this is ginger ale in a peculiar little place in Whytheville, Virginia. They ran on a very slow timetable, they said that their food was made with love and as a result it would take time. It was quite good, but quite slow.

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Curly fries and buffalo wings at Hooters in Memphis. This was not my meal, but it looked good! Also in that Hooters there was a sign explaining that you couldn’t bring firearms into the restaurant. Only in America!

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I acknowledge that this meal does not look so good, but it was possibly the best meal I had while I was away. Pulled pork, slaw, beans and a bun. So good, I can’t even tell you (also in Memphis).

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Beignets (French doughnuts) at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. The were truly excellent, but you had to be very careful not to breathe in or out while taking a bite or the powdered sugar would get you! This place was also open 24 hours a day, everyday. By all accounts it’s a requirement when you’re in New Orleans to go there.

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Chocolate mole enchiladas in Austin, Texas. Another fantastic meal! Also the black beans in the top right were amazing.

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Probably the artiest food shot from the collection; gorgeous honey bread in a steak house in Texas. They made the bread on site. The steak was really good too, but I was too busy eating it to take a picture.

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I believe this is called the Big Bowl. It’s beans, rice, corn, minced beef, chilli and cheese all together. The puffy thing on the side is a sort of hollow bread puff, called a sopailla. This is in New Mexico.

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The last photo in the series is an Asian stir fry meal that we ate in Las Vegas.

One of the things I missed while I was away was Asian style food – Vietnamese and Thai in particular. I guess it’s a geographical thing, a lot of their restaurants are Mexican, because they’re close to Mexico, while here we have a lot of south east Asian food, because we’re much closer. I dunno, but it was a treat none the less.

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USA – Ordinary People

15 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by toearlyretirement in Photo Essay, Travel

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Adventure, Austin, Brisbane, Canon 1100D, Inspiration, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, New York, People, Photo Essay, Photography, Street Photography, Washington D.C.

While I was on my travels I took an enormous number of photos. I have been back for a couple of weeks, but life got in the way a bit and I am only just getting on to organising my photos into themed photo essays for this blog.

I am starting with a theme I’m calling ordinary people. This is a selection of (largely) unposed photos I took of people I encountered in the US on my four week adventure.

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This couple is actually in Brisbane, I took this while on Southbank during the 12 hour delay on the way into New York.

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This is in Manhattan, in a park I don’t remember the name of, just about sunset. To the right of the shot there are basketball courts and other community sporting grounds, to the left of the shot is a cycling/walking track and a stretch of park. I like to think this guy was doing homework, or writing something, and that he was out in the beautiful summer evening because his apartment was too tiny, or too noisy, or too full.

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These people were watching the LGBTIQ Pride Parade as it wound it’s way through Manhattan. The parade was awesome but I liked that you could be standing next to almost anyone on the crowd. We were all there for the same reason, all baking in the sun, watching the spectacle go past.

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This woman was getting out of her taxi as we drove into Washington D.C. Something about the poverty of the area and the normality of the action inspired me to grab this shot from the car.

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This man and his son were inside the Smithsonian Natural history museum in Washington D.C. He was so good with this kid, so patient and enthusiastic, and the child was having such an awesome time. They made me smile.

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<This guy. What can I say about him? He brought his massive iguanato watch the 4th of July fireworks display in the Mall in Washington D.C. I was not the only person to get a photo of these two.

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This little girl is gorgeous. She was sitting in Beale St, Memphis, with her family watching some street performers doing an acrobatics display. I suspect some of the boys performing were her brothers or cousins, but she may have just been hanging out.

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The Latin Quarter of New Orleans: I would love to go back there and spend some more time. We were standing in the street after having a meal when a woman and her dog (this little guy) came past. She seemed so poor and desperate, and her dog seemed so afraid and hungry. She stopped to chat with us for a bit, bummed a cigarette from one of us, and then went on her way.

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In Austin, there seemed to be a lot of cool people on bicycles, but the helmet laws are different.

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We arrived in San Diego on the final day of Comic Con, just in time to catch a few cosplayers heading back from the convention centre and to see these guys filming some sort of review or wrap up.

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Another Comic Conner, this is the only posed one of the group, he had such an excellent moustache I asked him for a photo. Clearly he was all too happy to oblige.

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People working out at Muscle Beach in Los Angeles. In the bottom right of the shot you can see a guy stretching. He looked like he’d been coming there for years, he would have been about 60, he had skin like leather from too much sun, and just before I could get the camera out he’d been doing handstands on those bars. It was very impressive.

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