
Being very fortunate to live close to the San Francisco Bay, I get to see a lot
of images in color of sunsets and the like reflected in the beauty of the water, etc. However, I'm always looking for something a bit more interesting and recently, during some of my "seaside" outings, I began noticing a lot of the relics of former com- merce along the shoreline. Most of these are the form of deteriorating old docks, pylons, wharfs and warehouses that have been abandoned after their usefulness is gone or man has found more profitable, commercial opportunities elsewhere, and the more I gazed at them, I discovered some very interesting compositions. Not only that, but when captured in the almost shadowless light of an overcast day or in between rain storms
or at dusk....and combined with a modern, thriving city-scape, bridge or similar construction....a sense of poignancy of progress and commerce arises in the beauty
and serenity that exists now, in place of the hustle and bustle that existed before, and that ironically was also its natural state before man's commercial enterprises left its mark.
