Tall Windows in Snow

While we’re contemplating the architecture of Clement Chemistry Building, I don’t think I’ve previously considered the way in which the dark sculptural stone sections connect together the windows on the second and third floors to make these big, tall, dramatic, dark pillars up each side of the building—almost reminiscence of the tall stained-glass windows of a cathedral.

Tall Windows in Snow

Snowy Clement and Hartford

White covers Trinity’s campus and accents the Neo-Gothic architecture, but the modernist skyline of Hartford in the distance perpetually suggests what else might architecturally be. Though I love twentieth century architecture, there’s little argument that it would have been the wrong choice for a small liberal arts college. It wasn’t until recently that I came to realize that many of these old-looking buildings are less than 100 years old; in essence, they were built to be old-fashioned from the start. Most east-coast schools are a sort of academic Disneyland—one constructed long enough ago that we forgot about the artifice and now see only authenticity.

Snowy Clement and Hartford

Two Doors Sunrise

Beautiful views from our Hartford balcony have been a consistent Decaseconds theme, and during much of the year (i.e., the colder months), those views usually come through these two big panels of glass that comprise our sliding door. Original to the building, they are thin and leaky and corroded and it’s time to move into the future… But the limits of what can fit up the elevator mean that we’ll be swapping to a three-panel set of doors to replace the two-panel set with which we began. I’m not sure I’m even necessarily disappointed, but I knew I’d be remiss if I didn’t capture the view as I’ve come to  recognize it.

Two Doors Sunrise

Skating in the Park

Despite years of living across the street from this charming skating rink in Bushnell Park, I’ve somehow never managed to capture good images of the action before this year. With the light of the full moon in the background, Hartford residents queued up for a chance on the ice.

Skating in the Park

Impossible Chapel View

When showing this picture of Trinity College’s chapel and Long Walk to a fellow alum, his first question was, “Where did you go to take this?” A near-lifetime of seeing the same perspectives from the same high points on campus made a shot like this one a complete surprise—a reaction that I’m always happy to provide.

Impossible Chapel View