buildings in Reykjavik

Posted on July 13, 2026 Posted in UncategorizedTagged adventkirkjan, architecture, beard, bicycle, blackandwhite, bnw, building, bw, ceiling, church, clock, clouds, coca-cola, concrete, deck, design, door, doors, entrance, facade, fence, glass, graffiti, grass, gray, harpa, house, iceland, interior, inviting, landscape, light, minimalism, modern, monochrome, Nature, noiretblanc, outdoors, people, photo, photography, poster, reflection, Reykjavik, roof, shadow, ship, sky, staircase, steps, structure, symmetry, texture, textures, tower, Urban, water, weathervane, white, windows, woodLeave a comment

rok restaurant

Description for the visually challenged

A black wooden building with a steeply pitched roof covered in grass. The front features large windows and a door, with decorative elements above the door. In the foreground, there is a bicycle and a trash bin. The background includes trees and other buildings.

harbour hut

Description for the visually challenged

A wooden house with a steeply pitched roof is shown. The front has four windows, two on the upper level and two on the lower level, with a white wall on the left side. The house is set against a cloudy sky, and a wooden deck is visible in the foreground.

hamborgara bullan – tommi’s burger joint

Description for the visually challenged

A tall clock tower is visible, with a Coca-Cola logo on its side. The clock shows a time close to 12:00. Below the clock, there is a poster featuring a man with a beard holding a dish, along with text in a language that includes ‘Nýt & Búhúmali’. The background shows a blue sky with clouds and a ship in the distance.

harpa concert hall – interior

Description for the visually challenged

The image shows a modern interior space with a high ceiling and large windows. A staircase with a glass railing leads to an upper level. The ceiling features a reflective, hexagonal pattern, and the walls are made of concrete. In the background, there are tables and chairs, possibly indicating a gathering area.

harpa concert hall – interior

Description for the visually challenged

The image shows a modern interior space with a high ceiling and large windows. The ceiling features a reflective, hexagonal pattern, while the walls are made of concrete. A staircase with glass railings leads to an upper level, and there are tables and chairs visible in the background.

harpa concert hall – interior

Description for the visually challenged

The image shows a modern interior space with a large, angular staircase made of metal and glass. The walls are gray concrete, and there are reflections of light on the surfaces. In the background, people can be seen, and a sign with the text ‘Norðurljós’ is visible on the wall.

adventkirkjan

Description for the visually challenged

The image shows a white church building with a sloped roof and a weather vane at the top. The entrance features a large archway with a double door painted in gray. The word ‘ADVENTKIRKJAN’ is displayed above the door, and there are steps leading up to the entrance. The background is mostly clear, with some clouds visible in the sky.

hallgrimskirkja

Description for the visually challenged

The image shows a tall, textured building viewed from below, with a series of vertical, protruding elements on one side. The structure has a large archway at the bottom and several small windows along the upper section. The photo is in black and white, emphasizing the contrast between light and shadow.

high contrast house

Description for the visually challenged

The image shows two buildings in black and white. The building on the right has a white exterior with multiple windows, some displaying graffiti that reads ‘ART’. The building on the left has a corrugated metal roof and a vertical striped facade. The background is a clear sky.

reykjavík junior college

Description for the visually challenged

A large white building with a peaked roof and multiple windows stands prominently. The structure has a central entrance with steps leading up to it. In the foreground, there are stone steps and a grassy area, while a chain fence runs along the front of the building. The sky appears cloudy and bright.

reykjavik city hall

Description for the visually challenged

A modern building with a curved roof and concrete pillars stands near a reflective pool of water. A large, round orange object is positioned in the water, and the building’s glass facade reflects nearby structures. The scene is in black and white, with people walking in the foreground.

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Hubbard Street Murals

Posted on July 11, 2026 Posted in Chicago, mural, photography, street-artTagged aging, Art, background, black, blue, butterfly, Chicago, color, colorful, community, crack, creativity, dark, decay, design, ducks, elephant, expression, falcon, foliage, frog, genre, gray, greenery, hubbardstreet, illinois, illustration, insect, mood, mural, Nature, photo, photography, places, publicart, reptile, rhino, signs, street, streetart, texture, Urban, USA, vibrant, wall, walrus, wear, white, woodpeckerLeave a comment

This is part of a project to photograph some of what was the Hubbard Street mural project initiated in the 1970’s by Ricardo Alonzo, an Art Institute of Chicago graduate.

Over an eight-year period, Alonzo and volunteers from the West Town Community Art Center painted murals along a mile-long stretch of Hubbard Street, from Des Plaines to Ogden, until their funding ran out in 1979.

I first noticed the murals out my Metra train window while I was looking to produce a project influenced by Wabi-sabi, and how it translates to an urban environment outside of Japan.

They provided an ideal way to explore how time and decay have affected these artworks. The originals would have been vibrant and colourful, time, paint overs, weather and construction have taken their toll on the work.

Most people will not see the murals because they are in an obscure place, where most people wouldn’t ordinarily have a chance to view them.

I want to raise awareness of this still-vibrant, if fading, original community project, and to introduce some of my work locally.

After producing some shots in monochrome, I decided to reshoot the set in color to have a better record of the original work.

walrus

Original notes

A mural depicting a walrus is painted on a wal

Description for the visually challenged

A mural depicting a walrus is painted on a wall. The walrus is primarily blue with white accents and is positioned against a dark background. Green leaves from a nearby plant partially obscure the top of the mural.

woodpecker

Description for the visually challenged

The image features a mural of a woodpecker on a wall. The woodpecker has a red head, black and white body, and is depicted in profile. There is a vertical crack running through the mural, and the background is dark with some blue elements.

leaping frog

Description for the visually challenged

A colorful mural of a frog is painted on a dark wall. The frog features green, yellow, and purple colors, with visible details like its limbs and webbed feet. The wall shows signs of wear and decay, with cracks and dirt present around the mural.

reptile

Description for the visually challenged

The image shows a mural of a large, stylized reptile’s face, featuring blue and green tones. The reptile has sharp teeth and a textured skin pattern. The mural is partially obscured by a vertical crack in the wall, with some dirt and grime visible around the edges.

bird of prey

Description for the visually challenged

A mural of a bird, possibly a falcon, is depicted on a textured wall. The bird has a light blue head, a yellow beak, and a body with intricate patterns in shades of beige and blue. The background is dark with visible wear and peeling paint.

butterfly

Description for the visually challenged

The image features a mural of a butterfly with predominantly black wings adorned with yellow spots and blue outlines. The background is a mix of blue and textured surfaces, with hints of pink and green elements nearby. The mural appears to be weathered and partially obscured by dirt.

busy bee

Description for the visually challenged

A colorful mural depicting a stylized insect, possibly a bee, is partially obscured by green foliage. The insect features blue, yellow, and black colors, with a textured background of pink and gray. The foreground includes various green leaves and plants.

elephant

Description for the visually challenged

The image shows a mural of an elephant’s head on a textured, dark background. The elephant is depicted in shades of gray with white tusks and hints of color on its body. The surface is worn and shows signs of aging and dirt.

rhinoceros

Description for the visually challenged

The image features a mural of a rhinoceros, predominantly in shades of gray and white, set against a dark background. The mural shows the rhinoceros’s head and part of its body, with visible texture and wear on the surface. In the foreground, there are green leaves partially obscuring the bottom right corner.

a couple of ducks

Description for the visually challenged

A mural depicting two ducks is visible on a weathered wall. One duck is shown in profile with a green head and a light-colored body, while the other duck appears to be resting with a grayish body. The background features muted colors and textures, with visible cracks in the surface.

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abandoned corporate spaces unveiled

Posted on July 9, 2026 Posted in photography, urban explorationTagged abandoned, acceptance, building, canon, ceiling, Deerfield, eosr5, facade, fixture, genre, glass, glass wall, illinois, meeting room, meetingroom, mood, office, Other, parking area, photo, photography, places, postcapitalist, rectangle, redundant, reflection, shade, shadows, tintsandshades, tree, Urban, Urbanex, USA, whiteboard, window, woodLeave a comment

the time for blue sky thinking is long gone

Original notes

picture of meeting room in a disused meeting room

Description for the visually challenged

A glass wall reflects a tree and a parking area outside. The wall features a whiteboard with faint markings and a sign labeled ‘1NW1 145-113’. Light creates shadows on the floor, and the overall setting appears empty and unused.

Embracing Impermanence and Sustainability

Original notes

This photo series captures the eerie tranquility of a once-bustling corporate campus, now an abandoned conference center. Emphasizing the impermanence of structures and the need for adaptive reuse, the images remind us of the environmental impact of construction. Cement production, the third-largest contributor to climate change, necessitates a shift toward repurposing existing buildings rather than creating short-lived, expendable office spaces. The series highlights the urgency of sustainable practices in architecture and urban planning.

Description for the visually challenged

The image shows a large, modern building with a glass facade and a reddish frame. Two bare trees stand in front of the building, one on the left and one on the right. The ground is paved, and there is a street lamp near the left tree. The sky appears overcast.

pretty vacant

Original notes

The image is intended to explore the intersection between the built environment and the emotional experiences of people who once worked in these spaces. It invites viewers to reflect on the fleeting nature of human existence, the impact of societal changes on urban landscapes, and the emotions tied to forgotten spaces.

Description for the visually challenged

The image shows a wide, empty road lined with bare trees, leading towards a pair of large, modern buildings. A glass skybridge connects the two buildings at the center of the frame. The buildings have a pink and beige facade with large windows reflecting the sky.

veni vidi vici

Original notes

ssssssss

Description for the visually challenged

A wide view of an asphalt parking lot with circular tire marks on the ground. In the background, there are several bare trees and a building with multiple stories. The sky is mostly clear with some clouds.

once a shangri-La

Original notes

Capturing the essence of faded optimism and impermanence, this photograph portrays a disused picnic nook, a once well-intentioned addition for employee wellbeing, now standing as a relic of a bygone era. Although the bustling highway is unseen, its constant noise lingers, reminding us of the transient nature of our attempts to create a “Shangri-La.” This abandoned corporate campus scene evokes feelings of loneliness and decay, highlighting the inevitable transformation of utopias.not know

Description for the visually challenged

The image shows a disused picnic area surrounded by bare trees. There are several green picnic tables arranged on a paved path, leading to a circular concrete structure in the center filled with tall, dry grass. The sky is mostly clear with some clouds.

for sale

Original notes

Picture of an unused office building awaiting sale

Description for the visually challenged

A large, rectangular brick office building with multiple windows is shown. The facade features a symmetrical arrangement of windows, some reflecting the sky. In the foreground, there is an empty parking lot with marked spaces and a few trees on the side.

no idling zone

Original notes

picture of an lonely loading bay

Description for the visually challenged

The image shows a loading bay with a large, arched overhead structure painted in pink. In the foreground, there are two blue metal ramps positioned on a rusted platform. Surrounding the area are several yellow and gray cylindrical posts, and a wall with a sign is visible in the background.

unexpected installation art

Original notes

picture of unused office interior where someone painted graffiti

Description for the visually challenged

An empty office interior features large windows on the left side and a wall with graffiti on the opposite side. The floor is carpeted, and there are doors on the right side. The image is in black and white, highlighting the architectural lines and reflections.

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Hubbard Street murals project

Posted on May 17, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Alonzo, Art, Chicago, community, Hubbard, murals, photography, Urban, Urbanex, wabi-sabi1 Comment

hubbard

I undertook this project to photograph some of what was the Hubbard Street mural project initiated in the 1970’s by Ricardo Alonzo, an Art Institute of Chicago graduate.

I first noticed the murals out my Metra train window while I was looking to produce a project influenced by Wabi-sabi, and how it translates to an urban environment outside of Japan. They provided an ideal way to explore how time and decay have affected these artworks.

BigCat

The originals would have been vibrant and colourful, time, paint overs, weather and construction have taken their toll on the work.

Most people will not see the murals because they are in an obscure place, where most people wouldn’t ordinarily have a chance to view them. I want to raise awareness of this still-vibrant, if fading, original community project, and to introduce some of my work locally.

After producing some shots in monochrome, I decided to reshoot the set in colour to have a better record of the original work.

You see the full set of pictures here

Travellers

Posted on May 12, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Berger, Collage, Digital Art, ello, photography, Time, Urban, UrbanexLeave a comment

I have worked with several artists on Ello to produce random collaborations using films double exposures by different people in separate locations. During that time I read John Berger’s essay “Understanding a photograph” first published in 1968, and was interested in the view that a photograph represents a single choice made by the photographer at some small slice of time in the past.

I set out to create a set of pictures that combined different elements of photographs shot over an extended period, in various places, into a digital collage with the intention to allow the arrangement of the different parts into some new whole based on choices made over time.

Some of the resulting pictures are whimsical others reflect my feelings on life and our current situation, but all gave me a way to explore how different objects and symbols work together.

While putting the pictures together, I wanted to see how isolated each element was, for example, did people look out of place in the shots taken inside the Chicago cultural centre. In the case of Sea of green, Terry Hunter is clearly out of place illuminated by a jellyfish in the sea.

The ghost of summer shoppers shows people taken at that location over a short period; apart from the multiple exposure effects they all belong there.

More information

Boogie Pilgrims

What happened to the band? Two singers separated from the band by space and time.

Is that you?

Two women from Iceland find themselves in Chicago. In this picture leaving the Iceland components in colour causes separation. Otherwise, they could be people from anywhere walking in Chicago.

Budget Mind Altering

I do not recommend mind-altering on a budget – they all wanted somewhere different but not here. This shot has regular people moved to an unusual location under the tracks; they hurry as if they have awoken somewhere disturbing.

Permanent Storage

For times when more durable storage may be required. The key difference in this picture is that it represents something impossible, people, merging into some inanimate object. To a degree, this represents my concerns about nuclear weapons, where the flash etches shadows of people on concrete.

Sea of green

Terry Hunter – Chosen Few DJ’s sharing the green seas off Iceland with a Jellyfish

Ghosts of summer shoppers

The ghost of summer shoppers shows people taken at that location over a short period; apart from the multiple exposure effects they all belong there.

Why here

The people shown were my teachers family, from when I lived in the middle east in the 1960’s, educated, generous and kind, yet we will now show them the wall no matter what pain they suffer. In this case, they arrive in the Chicago cultural centre; they would have surely liked that. The original image was shot on 35mm Kodachrome 64.

Still waiting for the great leap forward

The people in the picture were my neighbours from 35 years ago when I lived in Sheffield (UK) – for some reason, a test strip print of them was left in a box of old prints I have. I didn’t print all their pictures at the time.