Statues hewn from stone line the bridge crossing a watercourse paralleling the Angkor Wat historical complex of Cambodia. The imposing structures dotting the region are considered by many as the largest historic religious complex in the world. Innumerable artifacts ranging from elements of the vast Angkor Wat temple to supporting fabrications dot this area of Siem Reap Province and invite appreciation for the architecture and an insight into the culture of the Khmer people.
New York City is the place I took my first photographs in 1958. Here, in a later photograph, a tower of the Manhattan Bridge frames the Empire State Building. Both of these elements are powerful icons of the Big Apple and people flock to visit them from around the world.
As the sun diminishes Tour d’Eiffel comes alive with light to bid a good evening to all in the city of Paris. The icon was originally constructed as an attraction and entrance to the World’s Fair held in 1889. It was named after Gustave Eiffel, the man in charge of the company that engineered and constructed it. From different viewing levels visitors can view the expansive Parisian landscape as if it were an architect’s model. At 324 meters (1,063 feet) in height it still ranks as the tallest structure in Paris. It is so recognizable that throughout the world people can call out its name simply by being shown a likeness of it. Paris is a favorite city of mine and nearly every time I visit I find myself in the gravitational pull of this alluring filament in the City of Lights.
The important European city of Berlin sits on the fertile European Plain and is ringed by forests and nature spots. It is one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities. Berlin is defined by a diverse human population coming from every peopled continent of the earth and speaking all major and many minor languages. Its rich history was most recently carved by the elimination of the infamous Berlin Wall. The wall was erected in 1961 to cause division but some 28 years later was dismantled to purposefully unite divided peoples — an act that inspired millions with new hope.
My daughter Katrina and I were traveling through the area when the momentous event unfolded. I will never forget the powerful impact it made on all of us, visitors and Europeans alike. Whenever we met them on the train or in the streets, joy was in the air and it was most contagious. It was not just news of the dismantled divider that fueled an excited spirit but also the prospect of renewal that always seems to accompany positive change.
The new Simatai Great Wall village known as Gubei Water Town is up and running as an attraction at the foot of the Great Wall in Miyun county 135 miles north of downtown Beijing, China. The completely new town has architecture reflecting an historic Chinese style built around modern infrastructure which makes it both attractive and practical. The Tanghe River, complete with an arched stone bridge wends its way through the town which was modeled after a southern China community named Wuzhen Water Town which is famed for being the “Venice of the East.”
Chicago is Mid-America’s capital city and the world’s largest metropolis on a fresh water shore. Lake Michigan is the big blue expanse lapping at the city’s foundations and it, conjoined with Lake Huron, has a surface area so immense that from this perspective it ranks as the largest fresh-water body on earth. My experiences in any major city tend to send me into public parks and gardens and seeking out man-made architectural accomplishments, which from my perspective are just as much a part of our nature as it is for beavers to build dams. In Chicago such pursuits are easy to come by and many venues have excited my senses from the dynamics of the magnificent lakeshore itself, through to the inland Chicago Botanic Garden.