604 - George Peabody Library
Today we explored a cathedral of books.
AKA, the George Peabody Library in Baltimore, Maryland. The library is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful libraries in the world, and it’s been an hour away from me for over a year now.
How I just now came across it, God only knows. But here I was now, walking into its divine embrace.
The goal with this photoshoot was to build upon my rapidly expanding architecture portfolio. A category of photography that was quickly becoming my favorite due to the immensity of awe-inspiring buildings in the DMV area.
My social audience, however, begged to differ. Engagement has never been lower with the recent influx of architecture photography in my feed. But you only live once, eh?
We timed our visit to the library first thing in the morning, with the intent of seeing it completely empty. I wasn’t sure how crowded it was gonna be, given that it’s featured on every “Top Libraries in the World” list. But then again… who’s really searching for that?
Turns out, us and 3 other people. I quickly lined up a center view photo before they walked in:
“First Edition Moby Dick”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 2000 ~ 12mm ~ f/4 ~ 1/100s]
The place was a straight beauty. And it isn’t just a front either. The library has a volume of over 300,000 books, including many first editions of Poe, Melville, and Darwin. That’s the authors of The Raven, Moby Dick, and the On the Origin of Species, for all you literary inept folks out there.
(Don’t mind my pretentiousness, I just spent 6 months reading Moby Dick.)
As I continued to move throughout the library, and I couldn’t help but look up:
A monstrosity of the beautiful variety. For that photo I tried to push myself outside my typical “perfectly aligned straight up shot.” That’s one thing I do find difficult in the architecture world- finding patterns beyond the obvious styles of straight on viewpoints.
I think that will come with time- I’m still fairly new to the category, so understanding it from a foundational viewpoint is where I’m at right now. But I think this is my favorite architecture shot in a while because it feels different.
But in the end, I couldn’t help myself with what is becoming my own personal cliche:
Maybe one day I’ll have a gallery of all these types of “look up” shots. They're just so easy and beautiful.
Now if only I could go up. Well, it turns out, after conversing with the local librarian, that the upper floors are closed to the public. Namely because the railings are low, and the staff thinks someone will eventually fall off trying to get the perfect selfie. I mean… Yeah, probably.
For my final shot, I decided to showcase what the side rooms looked like. There were several of these under the shelves, each with their own character traits. Some had a table, some had drawers, and some were simply empty:
Now you know. In case you were curious what was hidden on the sides underneath all that glam- rickety old library rooms.
Overall, I’d say this was a solid photo sesh. Quick and dirty, in and out in about 20 minutes. Stunners all around.
Welcome back to the US, baby.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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