39th St, KC, MO (II)

Here is another selection of images made along Kansas City's 39th St. These photographs could be described as impressions really, more than that of a guide book document. 39th St is a place I visit often. It has some great restaurants, an excellent vintage clothes store and a very good second hand music shop. It is also the home of Prosperos Books which is a used book store full of rare and hard to find gems.

39th St is one of the earliest suburban neighborhoods to flourish in Kansas City's turn of the last century's expansion, 39th Street West was served by two light rail lines: a single-track streetcar line running to Rosedale, and the "Strang Line" providing a direct connect to areas further south, like Olathe.

39th St Impressions Part (I):

http://simonkossoff.blogspot.com/2010/11/39th-st-kansas-city.html

Prosperos Bookstore:

http://www.prosperosbookstore.com/?page=Home

La Pura Vida Magazine. Issue One

The excellent photography website La Pura Vida have published a magazine. Issue one is called 'Fragments and Collisions'. So far I have only viewed the preview of it, but it looks like something very special and I look forward to receiving my copy in the mail shortly. I am also pleased to say that I have a photograph included in the 'Group Show' section of this magazine - an image from my on-going Overland Park project.

Many thanks to Bryan Formhals, it's editor and the team which helped put this terrific looking publication together. I am in the company of some wonderful and talented photographers there.

LPV is an online and print magazine dedicated to contemporary documentary and fine art photography. Our aim is to provide a platform for emerging and amateur photographers to showcase their work innteresting ways. In our essays, we explore the evolving nature of photography in the digital age and how social media and technology are creating new opportunities for photographers and publishers.

To preview or order a copy of La Pura Vida Magazine please follow this link:

http://www.magcloud.com/browse/Issue/173566

A slideshow of the Group Show, Fragments and Collisions can be seen here:

http://lpvmagazine.com/2011/04/group-show-fragments-collisions/#1

Some interesting articles about the magazines background and creation can be found here:

Intro: http://lpvmagazine.com/2011/04/introduction-fragments-collisions/

Welcome: http://lpvmagazine.com/2011/04/welcome-to-lpv-magazine/

Kansas Cosmosphere, Hutchinson.

I have made two visits to the fabulous Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas. The first visit was not long after I arrived in the U.S. and it was one of the first road trips I made. At that time I was overwhelmed by everything I saw and in an almost paralyzed state of culture shock and it took me several months to gain some sort of equilibration photographically. At the best of times my photographing was erratic and I felt very much the alien I was/am and it is strangely fitting that the Cosmosphere was one of the first museums I visited.

It was over that first winter when I slowly I began to pick up on various photographic threads which I wanted to explore further. Ideas and projects then began to take shape and some of these early Cosmoshere images found themselves part of my first two projects, 'Running on Empty' and 'States of Grace'. The images posted here were made on both Hutchinson visits. On the second visit I did not go into the museum itself, but instead became fixated on the grounds surrounding it and found the contrast between these imposing relics from the space race standing amongst an everyday American vernacular too irresistible to not record.

Here is some background and information taken from the Kansas sampler website:

The Kansas Cosmosphere & Space Center is one of The 8 Wonders of Kansas because it has one of the most significant collections of U.S. and Russian space artifacts in the world! The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, conceived by long-time Hutchinson resident Patricia Carey, is one of America's premier space centers. Making its start as a small planetarium on the Kansas State Fairgrounds, the Cosmosphere is now an internationally-acclaimed staple of the space science community. Educating patrons from around the globe, the Cosmosphere boasts the Hall of Space museum, one of the most significant collections of U.S. and Russian space artifacts in the world; the Carey IMAX Dome Theater, one of only 14 IMAXR dome theaters in the world; a planetarium; and astronaut training camps for all ages. Located in central Hutchinson, the Cosmosphere, a non-profit organization, is unique to Kansas. Its Hall of Space Museum is one of only three museums in the world to display flown spacecraft from all three early-manned space programs - Mercury (Liberty Bell 7), Gemini (Gemini 10) and Apollo (Apollo 13). In regard to depth and size, the Cosmosphere's space artifact collection is second only to that of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Similarly, the Cosmosphere's Hall of Space Museum harbors the largest collection of Russian space artifacts outside Moscow. Proudly placed in Kansas, the Cosmosphere has also taken part in many documentaries and films. Most notably, the Cosmosphere built the spacecraft and hardware used in the movie Apollo 13, starring Tom Hanks.

Kansas Cosmosphere website:

http://www.cosmo.org

Kansas Sampler:

http://www.kansassampler.org/8wonders/8wondersofkansas-view.php?id=14