“Art is man’s nature; nature is God’s art.”
~ Philip James Bailey
~ English poet
~1816-1902
Tinged with winter’s chill, the waters of the Monocacy Creek ramble past its snowy banks through Monocacy Park, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on a beautiful February afternoon in this painterly image, three days after the region was blanketed with 27.3 inches of snow.
~ Leonardo da Vinci
The cold winter waters of the Monocacy Creek meander through Monocacy Park, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, winding by the creek’s snowy banks on a beautiful February afternoon, three days after the region was blanketed with 27.3 inches of snow.
“I fell in love with the process of taking pictures, with wandering around finding things. To me it feels like a kind of performance. The picture is a document of that performance.”
~Alec Soth
~ born 1969
~American photographer
based in Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Flying Egg sign stands out in the course of the cool and historic streetscape that is Main Street in historic downtown Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in this infrared capture I shot on a late November afternoon.
The Flying Egg, a self-described “Boutique diner in the heart of Bethlehem,” is a casual-chic, white-brick eatery offering an all-day breakfast menu alongside brunch.
~ Garry Winogrand
~1928-1984
~American street photographer from the Bronx, New York, known for his portrayal of U.S. life and its social issues, in the mid-20th century. Though he photographed in California, Texas and elsewhere, Winogrand was essentially a New York photographer.
I captured this shot, presented in infrared, showcasing the Monocacy Creek meandering through a portion of the Colonial Industrial Quarter, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on a late November afternoon from my vantage point standing on the Broad Street Bridge on the city’s north side. A car drives past the Conestoga Condominiums on Conestoga Street at right. The Hill to Hill Bridge can be seen in the distance at right, and the church steeples and rooftops that dot Southside Bethlehem are in the distant vista.
The Colonial Industrial Quarter is considered America’s earliest industrial park. Established by the colonial Moravians along the banks of the Monocacy Creek, the ten-acre site contains historic buildings such as the 1762 Waterworks – a National Historic Landmark – 1761 Tannery, 1869 Luckenbach Mill, 1748/1834 Gristmiller’s House, reconstructed 1764 Springhouse and 1750 Smithy, as well as ruins of the original 1749 Pottery, 1752 Butchery, 1765 Oil Mill and 1771 Dye House. This location was chosen to take advantage of a spring that supplied potable water and the power supplied by the Monocacy Creek’s flow for the craftsmen and trades of early Bethlehem.
The Colonial Industrial Quarter is part of the Historic Moravian Bethlehem Historic District which was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 2012 and later named to the U.S. Tentative List in 2016 for nomination to the World Heritage List. It is also known as the location of several annual events and festivals including the Historic Turkey Trot 5K, Musikfest and Celtic Classic.
The Broad Street Bridge is a concrete arch bridge over Monocacy Creek on Broad Street. Open to traffic, it is a closed-spandrel arch bridge built in 1909.
The Hill to Hill Bridge is a road crossing of the Lehigh River linking the south and north sides of Bethlehem. Completed in 1924, the bridge carries Pennsylvania Route 378 from Wyandotte Street on the city’s south side to a series of ramps and viaducts on the north side. It replaced a two-lane covered bridge and eliminated several grade crossings of three railroads on the two banks of the Lehigh River. It is located in the Central Bethlehem Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, with a Boundary Increase in 1988.
“The only truth is music.”
~ Jack Kerouac
~ 1922-1969
The new Public Piano waits to be played along the new SouthSide Urban Arts Trail Nov. 8, 2020 at Third and Fillmore Streets, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Anyone is welcome to sit down and tickle the ivories or listen to the music that weaves into the street rhythm of South Side Bethlehem.
The piano features the art of local artist Christopher Colon and is sponsored by The Lehigh Valley Chamber Main Street Foundation, Northampton Community College Fowler Family SouthSide Center, the SouthSide Arts District Design Committee and Wegmans Food Markets.
The project was a venture of the SouthSide Arts District, an initiative of the Bethlehem Economic Development Corporation.
A sign of the times in the age of COVID-19, a spray bottle of hand sanitizer sits atop the piano.
A street piano is a piano placed in a public area that encourages passersby to stop and play.
