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The waiting area once featured places to eat, smoke, shop, and even bathe, but the station had been hit hard by vandals and scrappers. Still, the incredible stonework, columns, and vaulted ceilings recall the elegance with which characterized the station's construction.]]>
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Unfortunately, the fully manual Canon A1 had developed a serious aversion to changing the ISO of the film, making the switch to Neopan difficult and time consuming. I also quickly discovered that cocking the shutter tended to shut the camera off, or worse yet switch it to a 2 second timer. Many frames of film were burned in error as I moved the camera from my eye to see why the shutter didn't release, only to snap a picture of nothing as it did finally release seconds later. This concerned me greatly, as I had no real way of knowing whether the camera was actually working or not. Would all of my pictures from the trip be blank? There was no way to tell.
Through a short passage framed by columns was the waiting area, where passengers would wait for their train to arrive.
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We entered the station and proceeded up a ramp to the main concourse, the first area that passengers disembarking from their trains would see. The massive space demanded photographs, and I immediately set my bag down and began to set up my tripod. Just when I had gotten the camera mounted to the worthless Bogen, the tripod tipped and my camera crashed to the floor for the second time, on the first day, of my trip. Some may be quick to blame intoxication, but the rush of air and the sound of wings flapping let me know that I had been the victim of an attack by the rare camera-loving Detroit bald eagle. Unfortunate, yes, but clearly unavoidable...under the circumstances. Dismayed by the clunk of camera equipment hitting the stone floor of the concourse I turned to survey the damage. The camera appeared reasonably in tact, except that it had vomited my film...my $7.50/roll Fuji Pro 160S...the only color film I had from the Wurlitzer...all over the floor. Ordinarily, I would have cursed the photography gods and possibly smashed the wretched tripod to bits. However, something in my head (maybe the booze) told me that this was par for the course for this trip. I resolutely tossed away my now worthless color film, loaded up some Fuji Neopan 1600, and began photographing again.]]>
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This partnership is also responsible for the design of one of the most significant train terminals in the world, New York's Grand Central Station. The similarities between the two buildings, both having been designed in the Academic Classicism (Beaux Arts) style, are apparent though it is easier to spot the influence of the two separate firms in the design of MCS.]]>
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The next stop for the Massholes after conquering the Wurlitzer was the massive Michigan Central Depot, also known as Michigan Central Station (MCS). With construction finishing in 1913, this imposing train terminal was designed by one of the early 20th century's most significant architecture firms, Warren and Whitmore, in partnership with another prominent firm of the time, Reed and Stem. ]]>
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"But Wait!" you say, "Black and white? A perfect day on a rooftop in the middle of the city, overlooking a huge baseball field...and I thought you mentioned something about expensive film and warm colors and a whole bunch of other artsy crap that I skipped over". Color film was shot, that much is certain...]]>
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The roof of the Wurlitzer was beyond belief. We crouched...seasoned explorers not wanting to be seen by traffic and passers by...and admired the view. We crouched, that is, until our host stood up on the side of the building and started video taping down at the traffic. Boston this is not.]]>
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The top floor was also stunning. Perfect light streaming in from above and beautiful warm colors that demanded my highest quality color film...one of two $7.50 rolls of Fuji Pro 160S I brought with me. I had to finish my black and white roll first, though.]]>
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