Tag: Princeton University

Amy Moranto dropped a comment on one of my posts that reminded me that I needed to post a photo for week 19 of the 52 Week Smartphone Challenge. The pandemic situation has made it challenging for me to capture unique images from what would have been a diversity of weekly living. No photos of extended family around the dining table, friends enjoying a pint at the local pub, interesting people on the train commute or walking around the financial district in New York City. I am limited to the inside of my home, the empty streets of nearby Hopewell Borough and Princeton, and the nearby woodlands.

But it wouldn't be a challenge if it were easy, and I am fortunate to have Amy Moranto and raconteur theonlydeadheadinthehameau join me. This week Amy submits the faded blooms of her neighbour's fragrant wisteria while the theonlydeadheadinthehameau submits that poppies are like life itself, "they come, they age, and then they go".

My photographic foraging took me into downtown Princeton and to the Princeton University campus, where I captured this week's submission for the challenge. I had clear skies that day, and the bright late morning light created strong contrasts on the sides of East Pyne Hall. I worked around the building photographing the archways, doors, and windows.

An example of Princeton’s Gothic Revival architecture, Pyne Library, was built 153 years ago in 1867 by architect William Appleton Potter. The structure made up the University Library until Firestone Library was built in 1948. Pyne Library then housed various administrative offices until 1965, when it was renamed East Pyne Hall and was renovated to accommodate offices and classrooms. East Pyne houses many liberals arts department offices and classrooms for students engaged in studies of classics, comparative literature and languages.

I chose this image because it has most elements for which East Pyne Hall is known. I love the look of the faded brownstone exterior, which looks weathered and aged and includes some architectural details, but the contrast of the brownstone with the green of the climbing vine pulled me in. Amy would enjoy reading an excellent article about Beatrix Jones Farrand and her work with landscaping the Princeton University campus. The vine is a Japanese climbing hydrangea, but I've never seen it flower.

A Japanese climbing hydrangea, a creeping vine with tendrils that adhere to the walls, at Foulke Hall. These plants were trained to grow up the walls in the mid-to late-1920s when Beatrix Farrand was landscaping that part of campus with her head gardener, James Clark. When the vines became very heavy, probably in the 1950s and ’60s, they were espaliered to the wall with wire and steel screw eyes, which can still be seen on many dormitory walls.

The image was captured in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom on my iPhone 11 Pro and edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic on my iMac. I used the Mullin Film Colour Clean as my base, layering Grain 400, Real, Subtle Warm and Raw Standard presets from Kevin Mullins' Black and White Film Lightroom Presets.