Close Looking – Interrogating Visual Material
This image stood out to me because I have a secret desire to live on a house boat and kayak to work. Upon further inspection, though, this picture reveals more about the people who live in these apartments than just their mode of transportation. Judging by the discontinuity of appearance of the exterior of what otherwise would seem like a single building, we can see that this is actually a collection of buildings pushed close together. And these apartments are pushed right up to the edge of the water, without any type of ledge or sidewalk. No towers or skyscrapers are visible above the exactly even roofs of these apartments, which seem to continue along the waterfront forever. The trees on top of one roof evidence a similar lack of space behind the buildings. Is it the case that these homes are built along the water, not because people like me want to kayak to work, but because there isn’t enough space to build further back? Why would this community choose to sprawl outwards, pressing up against its geographic limits, instead of upwards?
This picture was striking to me because of the lack of cars. There are plenty of pedestrians and bicyclists, and if you look closely at the side of the streetcar, you can see that it promotes bicycling. All these details indicate a cultural independence from cars. This could, in turn, mean that there are no suburbs to commute from, and that most people live in apartments like those above the store bodysox, which I like to imagine sells literally only body socks. I wonder if this area has historically always been car-free, or if this square has been paved with brick recently to exclude cars in an effort to appear “green.” The brick ground continues down the street, and I’m curious as to how far this area extends. Does it encompass a large part of downtown, or just a small public square? Is this attitude towards transportation common, or do only certain sections of the population resort to public transportation?
