Tag Archives: Downtown Indianapolis

Minton-Capehart Federal Building, Indianapolis

Brutalist pathway
Pentax ME, 35mm f/2.8 SMC Pentax-A
Agfa APX 100 (expired 7/1998)
2018

I’m no fan of Brutalist architecture. It has the grace of Soviet design and the class of a punch in the mouth. But of late I’ve grudgingly admitted that it is worthy of preservation.

Indianapolis has a fabulous example of the form: the hulking Minton-Capehart Federal Building. It’s Downtown. You need no directions — just drive around and you’ll find it. You can’t miss it.

This pathway leads to the building’s entrances.

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Film Photography, Preservation

single frame: Brutalist pathway

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Indiana War Memorial

To Vindicate the Principles
Pentax ME, 35mm f/2.8 SMC Pentax-A
Agfa APX 100 (expired 7/1998)
2018

Indianapolis is second only to Washington, DC, in war memorials. Actually, while DC has more in number, we devote more land for ours. Take that, DC.

The Indiana War Memorial Plaza consumes five full blocks of prime Downtown space, between the federal courthouse on New York St. and the Indianapolis Public Library on St. Clair St.

If you’re ever in Indianapolis and want a good place to make some photographs, head on down to the Indiana War Memorial Plaza. If you’re there on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday between 9 am and 5 pm, be sure to tour the museum inside the Indiana War Memorial itself.

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Film Photography, Preservation

single frame: To Vindicate the Principles

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Minton-Capehart Federal Building, Indianapolis

Minton-Capehart Federal Building
Pentax ME, 35mm f/2.8 SMC Pentax-A
Agfa APX 100 (expired 7/1998)
2018

I think it was Mike Connealy who wrote on his blog about being hassled by security when photographing a federal building where he lives. I mentioned that the next time I took a photo walk Downtown I ought to liberally photograph our federal building and see if I would be similarly accosted.

I did it recently, making five or six photos of this building while on the property, in probably a ten-minute span. I was left alone. Perhaps I just went unnoticed.

This photo from across the street benefits greatly from my 35mm lens. It was no trouble at all to fit this giant into my frame. I did have to tilt the camera up to avoid the top from being cut off, which created perspective error. A quick hit of Photoshop’s perspective-correction tool made the top of this building jut out properly.

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Film Photography, Preservation

single frame: Minton-Capehart Federal Building

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On St. Clair St.

Forest land
Pentax ME, 35mm f/2.8 SMC Pentax-A
Agfa APX 100 (expired 7/1998)
2018

“You look tired,” my boss said. “Listen, we can handle everything here. Take tomorrow off. Get a one-day head start on the weekend.”

I was tired. We’d had a changing of the guard at work. The fellow who hired me, a company co-founder, had exited. His replacement had been on the job just a few weeks, and brought with her a whole host of process improvements that she aimed to implement rapidly. It’s been a lot of change in a short time, and it came while I’ve been mourning my father. I’d been pushing pretty hard.

I spent my free Friday alone. A buddy had sent me some expired, but always frozen, Agfa APX 100 film, so I loaded some into my Pentax ME. I started the day shooting my 50mm f/1.4 SMC Pentax-M lens but as my path too me downtown I found myself at Roberts Camera buying a nice used 35mm f/2.8 SMC Pentax-A lens.

I spent the rest of the day with it mounted to the ME. This was one of the first shots I made with that lens. Just look at how much life that lens and film rendered into those bricks!

I’m still tired, by the way. At least I am as I write this, near the end of March. But as this post publishes my family is back from a week’s vacation. Hopefully this post finds me refreshed. But I also need some blog breathing room. So all this week I’m publishing single frame posts from that day of photography.

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Film Photography

single frame: Forest land

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