Checking Out Commercial Houston (TX 04)

Houston is one giant commercial engine. Everyone is rushing around, 18-wheeler trucks thunder along the freeways, long cargo trains rumble on the tracks, strip malls with sort-of reasonable and grotesque stores can be found every few blocks, construction cranes reach up to the sky, and there is constant traffic. 

The good side of this booming prosperity is that you can find superb restaurants and truly top-class arts and museums. For me, it was such a contrast to be in a metropolis with an expanding economy, a place where something is happening. During my recent stay in Houston, I wandered around looking for my type of photographs. There was plenty of good material!

Waiting for the tram at 07:15

The METRORail light rail (tram) is efficient and runs most of the day. You can take your bicycle. To pay, you use a pre-loaded fare card or a phone app. 

N. Fannin Street view north to Texas Medical Center - pretty crummy walking but at least there is sidewalk

 Vote for Tires, 3801 N. MacGregor Way - not sure if I would buy tires here

Dakk T-shirts, 3801 N. MacGregor Way

Secret Recipe West African cuisine, but not any more

Head west out of the downtown business district and you reach the Montrose Neighborhood.

Americana strip mall architecture at its best, 1660 Westheimer Road 

Americana signage at its aesthetic best, Westheimer Road

Westheimer Road runs east-west through Montrose. In the 1980s, this was an artsy area with galleries and alternative clubs and bars. At that time, it was the center of Houston's gay and lesbian community. Today, it is one of Houston's main cultural centers, noted for its art, food scene, and night life. 

And some Montrose galleries are seriously upscale now. In November, my wife and I visited the Catherine Couturier Gallery. At first we did not recognize the featured artists. But then, while flipping through their stacks of matted prints, we saw genuine original silver gelatin prints from Weegee, Bill Brandt, Callahan, Doisneau, and more! Prices ranged from $4000 - $10,000 each. If only I had a bit of spare cash.....

Not upscale apartment, Kyle Street, Montrose - maybe I won't rent here

TR Acupuncture Herb Clinic, 6723 Weslayan Street - they will fix anything that ails you

La Calle Tacos, 401 Grey Street

In the 1980s, Grey and West Grey were grungy. Now this district has been renovated. I need to scan some of my 1980s negatives from this area.  

Historic Niels Esperson Building (1927) and its tempietto, Travis and Walker Streets

Houston Camera Exchange museum of good stuff (digital file mobile phone)

These 2022 photographs are from Kodak Gold 200 film. I used my little Kodak Retina IIa camera with its 50mm ƒ/2 Schneider Xenon lens.

Wandering the Fifth and Third Wards of Houston, Texas (TX 03)

This is the third of my irregular series on Houston and south Texas. 

The Wards were political subdivisions of the City ofHouston. The City officially abolished the Wards in 1915, but the terms remain to describe the approximate geographic districts of the city. People still say that they live or work in one of the wards.

Fifth Ward

The 5th ward was north and east of the city. It was formerly a working class district with laborers from the shipyards and the Houston Ship Canal. 

I had been photographing downtown and wandered into the 5th Ward sort of by accident. All of a sudden, I was in West Jackson again. I saw block after block of little wood shotgun shacks, some painted but many dirty, piles of trash, boxes, filth, and bedsteads on the curb, rows of grim brick subsidized housing, gutters/troughs full of ponded water, dangling wires, abandoned strip malls and corner stores with trash on the pavement, and some houses with big fences and "No Trespassing" emblazoned on big signs. The dudes were washing their bling cars with the protruding cones sticking out of the wheel hubs. How is this possible? Are we cursed forever with this economic/social blight, even in rich American cities? 

View of Houston business district to the southwest

West Street cottage near Tower 26 railroad junction

Brooks Street cottages

Several streets near the Tower 26 railroad junction had many abandoned houses. The backs faced the tracks. Maybe train traffic made them too noisy or dangerous.  

Update March 26, 2023: These little cottages have recently been demolished. The land is bare and freshly scraped. Tractors and trucks were parked near the site. 

2023 Semmes Street, former school but used by a recycling company (probably defunct)

Restored shotgun houses, 2208 Semmes Street

Third Ward

Third Ward is southeast of downtown within the 610 loop. It is east of the Texas Medical Center and easily accessibly by bicycle on the Brays Bayou Greenway Trail. According to Wikipedia, "The ward became the center of Houston's African-American community. Third Ward is nicknamed "The Tre""

Homan Street near the Columbia Tap Rail Trail

Church of the Living God, 2509 Burkett Street

Cormorant mural, Delano Street

As you can see, Houston is full of interesting subject matter. Stand by for more examples.

I took these photographs on Kodak Gold 200 film using my early-1950s Kodak Retina IIa camera with its 50mm ƒ/2 Xenon lens. The Gold 200 is rather grainy and I may not use it again. I miss the gorgeous Gold 100 from the early 2000s. The Retina has an accurate shutter and excellent coated lens; I have no issues with its optical quality. But I am having some trouble framing correctly through the rather squinty viewfinder. And the camera is a bit fiddly for my clumsy hands.