“The Jewel on the Hill” and “Spring Dusk on Main Street”
The Jewel on the Hill, Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall
Walking home through Carnegie on this date in 2005, carrying just my little 2MP digital camera that didn’t even have a zoom and a small lightweight tripod, I managed to photograph two of my favorite photos of all the photos I’ve taken, above, “The Jewel on the Hill” and below “Carnegie at Dusk”. Though I’ve got plenty of photos to share, and even newer ones from Carnegie, today I’ll celebrate these two, two of the photos that convinced me to take another, closer look at my photography.
So we call this treasure in our town so named for its builder, the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall. This is actually an older photo but with a story, plus I recently installed an exhibit of photos of this facility at this facility, which is also one of my favorite places to go and which is also one of my regular customers for freelance design work. Quite a lot of connections.
Anyway, this photo is one we’ve used repeatedly as the signature image for the facility, and was a real stroke of luck and timing. I was walking home on a clear, warm spring dusk in late April, 2005, April 24 to be exact, and arrived at the bottom of Library Hill at just this moment. The sky was fading from brilliant turquoise to cobalt, the still-bare trees were etched against it in silhouette, and the grand building itself stood partially lit by the sunset but with all interior and exterior lights on, solid and stately, serving its public in its 104th year. By the time I had snapped a half dozen or so shots the light had changed completely and the moment was gone. That was part of the timing, the other part that they had only temporarily installed the foundation lighting but never used it again, and this was part of what gave the building that lovely definition against the dark hilltop. A few minutes earlier or later, the previous or following week, and this photo would never have existed. And it was taken with my first little point-and-shoot 2MP digital camera—I don’t know how it came out as clearly as it did!
Read about the exhibits and find links to slideshows of the images at “Of Harps and Fig Leaves” and “Carnegie Photographed”.
A little background on the names…in 1894 the leaders of two small communities on either side of Chartiers Creek, Mansfield and Chartiers, decided to merge in order to provide better services as one community instead of two individual administrations. Andrew Carnegie, who had owned a mill in Carnegie, had by then sold off his mills and begun spending off his worldly wealth by building libraries. These town leaders had a proposal, that he build a library and a high school for the new community and they’d name it after him. He did build the library but said they were on their own with the high school; nonetheless our town is named “Carnegie” in his honor.
He also set up the Library itself a little differently from the others he’d had built. Where others are named “(name of town) Carnegie Library” or “Carnegie Library of (name of town)” and were built with his expense but maintained by the community, this Library bears his full name and given an endowment for its maintenance. Also, more than just the Library space, a Music Hall was incorporated into the design along with a gymnasium in the full basement.
You can read all about this unique facility on its website at www.carnegiecarnegie.org. I’ll also mention that the website design is mine, and you’ll see many more of my images in the photo album.
Spring Dusk on Main Street
Book Stacks
Book Stacks
There’s just something about browsing books this way that I find so much more enjoyable than browsing titles on a computer, even if I’m looking for recorded volumes…each book on each shelf seems to hold a treasure, and walking sideways down the aisles is so much more fun than scrolling. At Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.
Vintage Pattern
Don’t look at this vintage cast-iron grate for too long, or your eyes will hurt as much as mine. It’s found covering an air duct in the Victorian-era Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie.
Two Antique Chairs
Two Antique Chairs
The style and craftsmanship of things made a century or more ago always intrigues me, especially since these chairs have been in every day service in a public library for all that time, and they are still sound and sturdy, though more attractive than comfortable. The room is large and bright, but they are in a dim corner, and the uncertain light softens their edges.
Foreboding
Foreboding
It does look like a scene from a cemetery.
But it’s just the crystal chess set at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie. A kind patron donated it, and it does look grand on the century old oak library table. It migrates around, but the building was built to catch as much light as possible from the tall windows, so even on a dark day like this, it reflects the light and casts interesting shadows on the table and on its own glass board.
Performance Photos: “The Producers”
This past Sunday I photographed the Stage 62 production of The Producers in the Music Hall at Andrew Carnegie Free Library in Carnegie. I love to photograph performances in that hall, and love to photograph performers in general, so I checked all my settings for low-light photography, added more duct tape to my battered old tripod and set everything up.
I’d seen the show the previous Friday, and I was very glad for the preview—without that introduction I’d sure have missed shots I wanted to get. I actually never saw the play, the movie, or the musical…I didn’t think I’d like it, the plot seemed ridiculous and the Hitler theme a little repugnant and hardly something to use as comedy so hadn’t wanted to use the time and money. But Stage 62 and the Hall being so familiar I had no qualms and went with friends, and never stopped laughing—another reason to be glad I’d seen it ahead of the photo shoot so I wouldn’t produce all blurry photos from laughing. It was sincerely funny, using the non-funny Hitler theme was part of the plot, very fast-paced and so well-done I was glad to see it again Sunday to photograph.
Everything on the stage is important—it’s like poetry where every word counts—and each of the players adds their own unique style to a character. The challenge of capturing action and accurate color, facial expressions and details of scenes during a live performance is great, with no flash and without the ability to climb on things and walk around at will to get a better angle so the players and the audience aren’t distracted. Then the relatively slow shutter speed with the actions of speaking, walking, dancing and sometimes crowds of people on the stage make it an all-consuming task, using my camera on entirely manual settings, even on manual focus. I never really get to see the show when I’m photographing, another good reason to see it beforehand or at least be familiar with it.
I’ve featured four of my favorite photos here, and have a gallery on DropBox to review. If you’re local, you have four more chances to see this show!
“Springtime for Hitler” Ensemble
View From the Window
I can see my house.
I can see my house from here!
Really. This is the view from one of the second-floor windows in Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie. I was there for a photo shoot on Sunday and the light was just right. My house is in the left panel, just above the row of houses in the lower left, white with two windows in the upper left of the second floor.
I posted a photo of Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall on this blog earlier today, the view of that building from my upstairs window, Shadows and Light.
Shadows and Light, 2011
Shadows and Light
Just the right amount of mist just after sunrise is enough to enhance the reds in the oaks and maples surrounding Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall. This is actually the view from one of the back windows of my house.
Autumn Scene With Piano, 2009
Autumn Scene With Piano
The stage is ready and it’s just a few moments before the musicians, who had just been rehearsing and goofing off about 30 minutes earlier, would arrive on stage in their dress black for the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall’s 2009 benefit performance of Daphne Alderson singing “All Judy, All Heart”. Here the concert grand is ready, with a colorful cluster of mums and sunflowers.
I love photographing performances and still stage scenes like this are rare to get. While the overall tones are autumnal with orange and yellow and bronze bathed in the yellow of the dimmed lights, yet the piano, the drums, microphone, even the floor and the post on the left are touched by a gentle wash of the red and blue stage lights ready for the performance, above.
It’s also in my exhibit “Of Harps and Fig Leaves” featuring images of this place, where it’s called “Autumn Expectations”.
The Jewel on the Hill
The Jewel on the Hill, Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall
So we call this treasure in our town so named for its builder, the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall. This is actually an older photo but with a story, plus I recently installed an exhibit of photos of this facility at this facility, which is also one of my favorite places to go and which is also one of my regular customers for freelance design work. Quite a lot of connections.
Anyway, this photo is one we’ve used repeatedly as the signature image for the facility, and was a real stroke of luck and timing. I was walking home on a clear, warm spring dusk in late April, 2005, April 24 to be exact, and arrived at the bottom of Library Hill at just this moment. The sky was fading from brilliant turquoise to cobalt, the still-bare trees were etched against it in silhouette, and the grand building itself stood partially lit by the sunset but with all interior and exterior lights on, solid and stately, serving its public in its 104th year. By the time I had snapped a half dozen or so shots the light had changed completely and the moment was gone. That was part of the timing, the other part that they had only temporarily installed the foundation lighting but never used it again, and this was part of what gave the building that lovely definition against the dark hilltop. A few minutes earlier or later, the previous or following week, and this photo would never have existed. And it was taken with my first little point-and-shoot 2MP digital camera—I don’t know how it came out as clearly as it did!
Read about the exhibit and see a brief slideshow of the images at “What’s New in Bernadette’s Studio?” or just visit the slideshow on my website.
A little background on the names…in 1894 the leaders of two small communities on either side of Chartiers Creek, Mansfield and Chartiers, decided to merge in order to provide better services as one community instead of two individual administrations. Andrew Carnegie, who had owned a mill in Carnegie, had by then sold off his mills and begun spending off his worldly wealth by building libraries. These town leaders had a proposal, that he build a library and a high school for the new community and they’d name it after him. He did build the library but said they were on their own with the high school; nonetheless our town is named “Carnegie” in his honor.
He also set up the Library itself a little differently from the others he’d had built. Where others are named “(name of town) Carnegie Library” or “Carnegie Library of (name of town)” and were built with his expense but maintained by the community, this Library bears his full name and given an endowment for its maintenance. Also, more than just the Library space, a Music Hall was incorporated into the design along with a gymnasium in the full basement.
You can read all about this unique facility on its website at www.carnegiecarnegie.org. I’ll also mention that the website design is mine, and you’ll see many more of my images in the photo album.
Stage Set, 2011
Building the Set
Members of The Pittsburgh Savoyards begin building their set for “Ruddigore” on stage in the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall. I love to think of a stage as a blank canvas of sorts, where the set is laid down as an underpainting or basic sketch, then the work is performed on that base. Here it is, waiting for the artists.
Crayons: Theme and Variations, 2011
Crayons
I enjoy photographing batches of objects that become patterns in their collective, or textures that become a background when taken out of context. Since the advent of computers and computer screens, we’ve been calling these “wallpapers”, and I guess that’s appropriate too since these patterns could easily repeat and cover a wall.
As excited as I was to photograph this basket of crayons on one of the children’s tables in Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, I knew my little hand-held digital wasn’t going to win the award; it hasn’t been the same since I dunked it in Robinson Run. So the photo is a little soft, but that’s an invitation to have some of my own fun in PhotoShop, like crayons for adults on computer.
First, I wanted something to simplify the light and shadow and color to a uniformity similar to that of the shapes of the crayons themselves. This filter is “cutout”, meant to resemble cut paper laid out and overlapped, with just six levels of value and the simplest edge setting (if you use PhotoShop, this will make sense).
Crayons, cut out.
You can purchase a variety of styles and sizes of prints of this photo on my Fine Art America profile, Crayola.
Then, I played around and discovered I really liked the “glowing edges” effect and the effect of a pile of neon lights.
Crayons, glowing.
You can purchase a variety of styles and sizes of prints of this photo on my Fine Art America profile, Neon Crayons.
Waiting for Showtime, 2011
Waiting for Showtime
Drums, guitar, bass and piano wait in the dimmed stage lights for the performance to begin.
I had the opportunity to photograph a performance last weekend, “A Gala Tribute to Joe Negri” at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall. I’ve created a slideshow of the rehearsal, performance and party afterward which will ultimately include music from the performance. Since this will be a few more days, I can’t wait to show some of the photos. When the full presentation is up I’ll post another image with a link to the slideshow.
I’m also going to be catching up with a few other photos for the days I’ve missed since the concert. October is beautiful, even in the rain! (No, the jazz standard is “September in the Rain”).
The Magic Flute: 2010
Pamina and Pamino with Papageno in the background.
Duquesne University Opera Workshop will be performing Mozart’s The Magic Flute this weekend at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall. I photographed the dress rehearsal and I can tell it’s going to be a great production. It’s hard to believe these voices are students, and they are so serious about their art and about Mozart opera.
On the surface, the story looks like just another silly Mozart opera with a thin plot and lots of repeated lyrics, but underneath that colorful layer is an immense amount of symbolism.
Of course this is from two years ago and the performance was fantastic! View the photo gallery of The Magic Flute on the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall website.
Living History 2012
A father and young son dressed as bucktails, denoted by the buck's tail attached to their hats which marked them as sharpshooters.
I had always wondered about reenactors of various wars. Hadn’t we done our best to end them, to heal and move forward? I can see dressing up in clothing from another era, but why would anyone want to reenact a bloody battle?
After meeting and getting to know at least one group of Civil War reenactors, the 9th Pennsylvania Reserves based at the Capt. Thos. Espy Post No. 153 of the G.A.R. at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, I’ve come to understand that for most it’s not the battles, but respecting and learning from the history of the events, of spending a day or a few days literally in the shoes of someone—often an ancestor—who lived and may have even given their life more than a century before, to understand their decisions and maybe a little more about life in that era, and how it led to where we are today.
Mixing Metaphors, from last year's event.
So it’s more about history for many, about being an expert in how things were, and a perspective on how we are. It’s also about wearing neat clothes and living life as someone else for a while. And about adding your personality to that character, reacting to your surroundings as that person might have, as the two ladies on the swings did—had they been dressed like that and walking through a park and seen the swings, of course they would have hopped on and gone for a ride.
Four reenactment groups camped at Carnegie Park from a frosty 35-degree Friday night, through a misty, cold and sleeting Saturday. Both Union and Confederate reenactors participated, pitching their tents among the trees.
Their realistic setups showed us how Civil War camps were organized and what they actually carried around with them before the days of easy communications and even carbon copies. In addition to setting up and hanging around in period clothing, reenactors also participated in Artillery Demonstrations and a reenactment of skirmishes.
But this event wasn’t all about reenacting battles with guns as another two groups met on another field to play Civil War-era base ball. And back at the Library & Music Hall people enjoyed a Victorian Tea, an impressive fashion show narrated with letters from an ancestor, tours of the Espy Post and more activities.
Below is a slide show from events this year which I attended; this includes the tea, fashion show, reenactment, baseball and tours of the Post. I will use these in the future when I design the newsletter and promotional materials for the Library & Music Hall.
Carnegie: 2011
Inside Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall
The man himself looks benevolently down from a portrait as a Library patron relaxes on the couch by the fireplace with a good book.
This was taken in the main reading area of Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie, PA.
Public Library: 2011
Public Library
The public computers in the public library provide just as much an opportunity as the books on the shelves ever did. Decades ago, my grandparents learned to read at this library along with other immigrants and then used the library in the midst of all the other dozens of nationalities residents in Carnegie. Now generations of people are still visiting the library, still representing the variety of people in our community, still taking advantage of what it offers, free to the people.
Roznizhka: 2011
Roznizhka
That’s what the guy’s doing in the middle of this photo.
This is from a performance of the Kyiv Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, Three Sisters, at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall today. The ensemble is local to Carnegie and while many of the dancers are of Ukrainian descent it’s not a requirement. The choreographer, Natalie Kapeluck, is skilled in modern dance as well and is of Ukrainian descent with a great amount of knowledge of the dances, costumes, traditions and stories of the land and bases her performances on traditional stories, working modern dance and ballet into the choreography.
She manages to work all the most famous traditional steps into each performance, especially the neat ones the guys get to do like this one, other leaps completely off the ground, spins and squats and even saber dances—with plastic sabers, of course. I had no idea he jumped as high as he did until I looked at my photos, and he did it not once, but two single times, then three in a row, barely touching the ground in between the three. This is mostly teenagers, including the guy in the jump, but the ensemble also includes a few adults and children all the way down to beginners. Everyone gets to dance in the annual performance, and there was one very little boy who handled his leaps and spins with great dexterity and a girl a few years older who just never missed a beat.
I am of Ukrainian descent on my mother’s side, and while I actually know little about the traditions—neither of my parents were terribly interested in what their parents were doing as children tend to be—I must have some cultural memory because I truly enjoy the dance, the music, and the traditional costumes, so full of flowers and bright colors with lots of red, even for men. The stories are always a mix of reality and fantasy, religion and superstition, full of scenes in nature and trees that come to life and heroic quests.
Pawprints and Raindrops
Cookie on my art table.
I have some catching up to do; I decided to slow down a little after Cookie passed. Now I’m remembering her, and ready to start posting daily images again, plus posting images from past years.
This post is really not about the gratuitous photo of Cookie reclining on my art table out on the deck one fine summer afternoon a few years ago, though I do fondly remember how often she accompanied me—no, she supervised me—wherever I was, demanding to be outside with me and promising to be good. This photo was with the original post in 2010.
In addition to Cookie, this post was one I published two years ago and it includes a poem I’d written and read that year at my annual poetry reading at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall entitled “Pawprints and Raindrops” and it actually features my other tortoiseshell kitty, Kelly.
This poem went on to be published in a variety of sites on the internet, and it also won both a Certificate of Excellence and Muse Medallion for poetry from the Cat Writer’s Association in 2010. Since I’m on a roll with practicing the recording of readings, I thought I’d record this one along with a slideshow of images. A link is after the poem, below.
Coming Spring poetry reading, 2010.
Thursday, February 18, 2010 was the date for “Coming Spring”, my fourth annual poetry reading and art exhibit at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie, my home town. I featured 10 new poems and and the fourth and final painting of my “Art of the Watershed” series, “Spring Morning at a Bend in the Creek”, plus a display of favorite originals, prints and notecards; you can see the painting and read more about this event on my “What’s New?” blog.
My biggest inspiration for poetry, prose and artwork is the world right around me, and I enjoy the opportunity to share it from the perspective of one who walks and hikes and bikes and carries a camera, art materials and journal everywhere—even around the house—so the inspirations are fresh.
Looking at my body of work, this, of course, includes my cats, and my cats are vitally involved in the paintings and photos I create; even if they aren’t the subject, they are somehow physically involved with their creation by sitting on my lap, rolling pastels off my table, drinking watercolor rinse water and so on.
Most visitors to The Creative Cat are familiar with my feline paintings, but I haven’t published too much of my feline poetry. I read this poem at my reading this year, and sometime soon I’ll feature other poems as well, some of which have photos, paintings or illustrations to accompany.
About this poem…have you ever partly awakened and combined your sleepy thoughts with the reality of your surroundings? So I did one rainy morning in summer. As at least one of my kitties is always vigilant about me, my little tortoiseshell kitty Kelly realized that I was nearing waking probably before I did and came over to greet me, and with her help I slipped off into an illusion of dreamy contentment.
PAWPRINTS AND RAINDROPS
I am not awake but aware
of the sound of raindrops
whispering in the leaves and tapping on the roof
in the early morning, still dark
and little Kelly, sensing my awareness
hurries over and steps on my back;
I feel her tiny cold paws dimpling the surface of my skin
as I drift off in the murmur of her purr and the rain
I think of raindrops on water,
I am the water, my skin the surface
and I can look up and in the increasing daylight
see the circular ripples of contentment
mingling on my own surface.poem © 2010 B. E. Kazmarski
Now you can listen to the poem too
I’ve recorded it with a slideshow of images and uploaded it to YouTube, but you can click the embedded video below and watch it right here.
And visit another poem too, Things I Found in the Woods.
Other places it was published
I am grateful to the websites who published this poem and led to my winning the Certificate and Medallion. Pawprints and Raindrops and my painting “Sunday Morning” were featured on the award-winning The Daily Tail blog (now Taildom)! Please visit to read and enjoy, and also to read wide-ranging daily stories and images about cats, dogs, cows, birds, deer and just about anything else with fur or feathers…or scales…or…
This poem was also featured in Catnip Chronicles in April 2010, and this was the reference for which I won the award, so click over there to read it and then subscribe to this monthly online journal of all things cat!
I’ll have one more cat poem from 2010 tomorrow, but I’m not sure what I’ll use for the slideshow…
About my poetry and poetry readings
In December, 2006, two of my poems were chosen to be published on a section of the Prairie Home Companion website entitled “Stories From Home/First Person” for submissions of writing about the place we feel most familiar. ACFL&MH invited me to perform a poetry reading and to display the artwork that inspired those poems.
After each show I’ve built a web page with the poetry and art I featured. Please visit, read my poetry and view my artwork. My prior readings have been:
"Paths I Have Walked", book of poetry.
“Paths I Have Walked”, book of poetry.
“Paths I Have Walked”in 2007, featuring “Dusk in the Woods”;
“Winter Twilight” in 2008, featuring “Summer Morning on the Creek”;
“Change of Season” in 2009, featuring “Autumn Comes to the Valley”;
“Coming Spring” in 2010, featuring “Spring Comes to a Bend in the Creek”
In 2011 I published a small book of my poetry from these four readings entitled Paths I Have Walked. Right now it’s still available in print—read more about it on my Portraits of Animals Marketplace blog or order it from my website—but one of the reasons I keep reading these poems is to practice reading them for the audio version of this book. I am also preparing it for various e-readers.
I’ll have one more poem from this year tomorrow.
________________________
All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.
Paranormal Adventure
Bobby
On Saturday, January 7, four local organizations who research and investigate paranormal claims set up piles of equipment all over Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall after the place had closed. As many lights were extinguished as could be (some are always on for security purposes) so that sensitive infrared and UV filming, photography and viewing could be used effectively.
There have been many stories and instances of presences felt around the place through the years, and I’ve sensed a few myself in all the years I’ve visited there. These groups listened to as many stories as possible, researched the history of the building and site, walked through beforehand to see what they sensed, and set up their equipment in the areas most likely to see something, but they also had infrared cameras in each area even if nothing had been reported there.
Much of what was reported by individuals was determined to be the result of actual activity by the people who were actually there—whispered conversations, walking in another room, etc. From that night the videos will be studied and from that and any other equipment anything that seems authentic will then be reviewed by other experts. After a report is compiled they will present what is called the “reveal”.
This photo shows the scene of one instance which even that night seemed quite authentic. About seven of us are in the reference room of the Library. The light is washing in from streetlights through the windows. A piece of equipment had sensed some electrical activity there, which might be something mechanical in the building itself, or it might be “energy” left behind in the form of a presence. They gathered where it seemed the strongest; I entered after they had begun.
One gentleman has an EVP device (electronic voice phenomenon device, a voice recorded by the equipment but not heard by our ears) and is talking to try to draw out the presence to reveal itself somehow, and he is also being filmed along with someone with another sound recorder. Among other questions he asked for a name, and on playback, we all clearly heard whispered, “Bobby”. It was not recorded on any other device, and none of us heard it otherwise though we were straining to hear just about anything.
I’m not sure when the reveal will be, but I will be sure to report back later.
Two Photo Exhibits
The Jewel on the Hill, Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall
I’ll take a break from my regularly-scheduled photo today to tell you about my two exhibits of local photography. “Of Harps and Fig Leaves” and “Carnegie Photographed”, are once again on display in the Reception Hall at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall. Stop by to peruse them and read the notes on the photos, or if you aren’t local, I have provided links to slide shows of each of the exhibits. Photos are for sale, and each sale benefits the ACFL&MH Capital Campaign.
Of Harps and Fig Leaves, an Exhibit of Photographs
This exhibit of sixteen of my color photographs of Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall includes a variety of views, from grand and distant to detailed and intimate. The exhibit opened for the 2010 benefit event on October 2, Marianne Cornetti Returns, and will hang in the Reception Hall as a permanent exhibit between other shows and exhibits. The Reception Hall is open during regular hours; please visit www.carnegiecarnegie.org for more information and directions. I have also included a list of the included images, below, with a link to a brief slideshow of the images.
The genesis of the show
"Clawfoot", detail of the original organ bench and replica carpet in the Espy Post.
When I bought my first camera, a Pentax K-1000, one of my first subjects was Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall. I lived two doors down, I was practicing with black and white film, and the massive, elegant building surrounded by tall trees was a feast for my eyes.
I’ve been visiting this place for books since before I can remember, but even today looking at the shelves of books interspersed with the tall Corinthian-topped pillars I can still remember feeling very small standing in the quiet of the big room and thinking it was the grandest place that could ever exist.
As an adult, when I began to return again for books, I also began wandering into as many rooms as I could gain access to, enjoying what is now the Reception Hall on a sunny winter afternoon, peeking into the darkness of the Music Hall, imagining myself on the stage.
As renovations began and I was spending more and more time here, all the memories combined with all the activity and inspired an exploration of the space recorded in photos using my new Pentax camera a digital SLR K10D.
"Grand Entrance", those limestone pillars and doorway have stood the test of time.
About the Photos
The photos include “The Jewel on the Hill” shown above, one we’ve used repeatedly as the signature image for the facility. Each photo has a story of its own genesis, but this one in particular was a real stroke of luck and timing. I was walking home on a clear, warm spring dusk in late April, 2005, April 24 to be exact, and arrived at the bottom of Library Hill at just this moment. The sky was fading from brilliant turquoise to cobalt, the still-bare trees were etched against it in silhouette, and the grand building itself stood partially lit by the sunset but with all interior and exterior lights on, solid and stately, serving its public in its 104th year. By the time I had snapped a half dozen or so shots the light had changed completely and the moment was gone. That was part of the timing, the other part that they had only temporarily installed the foundation lighting but never used it again,a nd this was part of what gave the building that lovely definition against the dark hilltop. A few minutes earlier or later, the previous or following week, and this photo would never have existed. And it was taken with my first little point-and-shoot 2MP digital camera, I don’t know how it came out as clearly as it did!
Here is a list of the names of the photos in the show, and you can view a quick little slideshow of them here. But you’ll have to visit the Reception Hall to really see them and know the rest of the stories.
1. Grand Entrance, 2003
2. The Jewel on the Hill, 2005
3. Welcoming on a Winter Night, 2008
4. Familiar View, 2007
5. Overarching, 2008
6. Clawfoot, 2010
7. Of harps and Fig Leaves, 2006
8. Hats, 2009
9. Autumn Expectations, 2009
10. Party on the Stage
11. Cubbage Hill, 2009
12. Champagne Reception, 2008
13. Book Stacks, 2005
14. View of Carnegie, 2008
15. The New Seats, 2009
16. Classic Curve, 2007
————————————————————
“Carnegie Photographed” Photo Exhibit
Spring Dusk on Main Street
This exhibit includes fourteen of my photographs of the town of Carnegie in all seasons, from details to distant views. The exhibit will hang in the Reception Hall as a permanent exhibit between other shows and exhibits along with “Of Harps and Fig Leaves, images of Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall”.
Two Shows in One Room
The Night Gallery, 3rd Street Gallery exhibit and jazz
Once we had “Of Harps and Fig Leaves” hung in the room, ACFL&MH executive director Maggie Forbes suggested this show to fill the other walls of the room. The 3rd Street Gallery hosts a show entitled “Carnegie Painted” each year, and as a central point in the community, the Reception Hall of ACFL&MH has been host to paintings from that show through the years. I certainly have enough photos of Carnegie to fill a few rooms, and, as with Harps and Fig Leaves, I had a difficult time choosing only 14 images.
All the photos are 11″ x 14″ framed with white mats and black 16″ x 20″ frames and the consistency of the exhibits in the big room, all photos, same mats and frames, is very appealing.
About the Show
Softly Falling Snow, Ross Colonial Cemetery on Library Avenue
A camera of some sort goes with me everywhere, and by living and working here in Carnegie, plus a good bit of walking and bicycling the subject of my photos is often my little town.
From local newspapers to Carnegie’s website and map, my photos have often been used to illustrate Carnegie, capturing Main Street at dusk or the Memorial Day Parade, a detail of everyday life gone unnoticed, or a hidden treasure I’ve found while exploring.
A news photo, those used for publicity, is different from an art photo. While many of the photos I have on f ile are perfect for a quick glance in print or web they’re not always the best subjects for permanently-placed enlargement to be seen and studied in detail.
It’s truly been my pleasure to browse six years of photos and choose 14 which I hope will illustrate the familiar beauty of the streets we travel every day.
Good Night Little Town, a view of Carnegie from a nearby hill
About the Images
The image at the top, “Spring Dusk on Main Street”, is one of my favorites and I think shows the quaint appeal and openness of Carnegie’s Main Street. The decorate street lights are on sensors and come on automatically at dusk, but each of them comes on at a different time. I wanted to catch that pure turquoise sky with enough light to see its color, but not all the lights were on when the sky was best. I had to stake this one out, and returned to Main Street three times during this week to make sure I got the one photo where all the lights are on and the sky is perfect.
Here is a list of the names of the photos in the show, and you can view a quick little slideshow of them here. But you’ll have to visit the Reception Hall to really see them and know the rest of the stories.
Amid the Gold
Banners and Flowers
Good Night Little Town
Icy Berries
Last Day of the Year
Memorial Day
Ornaments
Softly Falling Snow
Spring Dusk on Main Street
Superior
Sycamore Sentinels
Tangled Shadows
The Night Gallery
Welcome
Hours for the exhibit
The Reception Hall is open during regular hours; please visit www.carnegiecarnegie.org for more information, directions and contact information. Remember that these exhibits hang between other exhibits and events at ACFL&MH, so please contact me or call Library to be certain the exhibits are up.
Framed prints size and availability
Each image is 11″ x 14″ matted with a plain white mat in a 16″ x 20″ matte-finish black frame. The photos on display are the property of Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, but you can purchase a framed print. Prints are for sale at $75.00 each, and a portion of every sale supports the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.
Canvas prints size and availability
These images are a full 16″ x 20″ printed on quality canvas and gallery-wrapped on canvas stretchers (the canvas wraps around the stretchers and is printed all the way around) for a clean, modern look. Canvas prints are not on display, but you can purchase one by specifying you’d like the canvas print. Canvas prints are also for sale at $75.00 each, and a portion of every sale supports the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.
You can purchase them directly through the Library & Music Hall or contact me with your interest.
Again, the slideshows…
Of Harps and Fig Leaves
You can view a quick little slideshow of them here.
Carnegie Photographed
You can view a quick little slideshow of them here.
Shadows and Light
Shadows and Light
Just the right amount of mist just after sunrise is enough to enhance the reds in the oaks and maples surrounding Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall. This is actually the view from one of the back windows of my house.
Amid the Gold
Amid the Gold
Many an autumn day I’ve paused to admire this bench, and to rest. The gold leaves may not be real gold, but just their color lightens my spirits.
This is the second bench you reach on the way up steep and curving Beechwood Avenue to reach the library and the neighborhood beyond, where I lived when I first graduated college. I had no car then and walked the hill plenty of times, and since then to visit the library and friends and customers who live in that neighborhood. Being a frequent cyclist in summer, I am always happy when I can reach the top of the hill without stopping, usually some time into the summer when I’m back in shape. Otherwise, this bench awaits me and others at just the right point of exhaustion. There’s a bench closer to the bottom of the hill, but most people pass it by still having enough energy to get to the top. By the time you reach this one, perhaps with a backpack full of books, you just might give in.
This is what it might have looked like today if we had had a spot of two of sun, but the day was steadily overcast. Underneath the overcast, I can see the leaves are at their prime. I looked at the bench and the trees and decided to post this photo.
This photo is part of an occasional exhibit I have at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall entitled “Carnegie Photographed”, a collection of 14 of my favorite images of Carnegie. Along with “Of Harps and Fig Leaves” it hangs in the reception hall between other shows.
Reflections and Reality
Reflections and Reality
Hard to tell which is which as autumn leaves are both clearly reflected upon and seen through these corner windows of Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie. A window in its Italianate style, tiny Corinthian column topped by a fountain of familiar symmetrical arches and circle above in terra cotta, warm clay brick in courses and arched above and a cool limestone sill seen in all its detail and color, and also in silhouette through the window, built solid to last a century and counting.
