My Peachtree Street: Through the Looking Glass

Reflections... They are such a fascinating thing, a flip side of reality. It's like diving into your childhood, a re-discovery of a long forgotten world of Lewis Carroll, still hidden deep inside in your mind.

I've been passing this stainless steel canopy millions of times on my way to lunch and back for the past hundred years, until one day I screamed: "Eureka!". No, I didn't went off running naked along Peachtree Street, as Archimedes did in Syracuse, but I did take a picture of this beyond-the-looking-glass world of the boringly-pompous building across the street.

comments (13)

Martin
United States
25 Sep 2007, 01:03

This is fun and a great find! The distorted colorful building is everything the other building is not. I wonder if there is another way to frame this that provides a bit more context. Seeing a bit more of the drab building could enhance the contrast with the colorful one, albeit at the price of reducing the airtime given to the distorted one.

vz-nostalgia: I'll think about your idea, Martin.

Ginnie
Atlanta, GA, United States
25 Sep 2007, 01:20

Lewis Carroll is probably the best description of this pic for me, VZ. Wow. I love it!

vz-nostalgia: Good to hear from you, Ms. Ginnie. I bet you took quite a few walks along Peachtree Street yourself.

Yẹni
Great Britain (UK)
25 Sep 2007, 02:23

nicely done....

vz-nostalgia: You're welcome, Yeni.

Tracy
Great Britain (UK)
25 Sep 2007, 11:27

Reminds me of going to the fun fair with the hall of mirrors. Lovely shot VZ.

vz-nostalgia: Told you, it's like diving back into your childhood...

Gail Wiley
Sandwich
25 Sep 2007, 17:38

I love this. The reflection has a sureal look to it. Amazing what you see when you look.

vz-nostalgia: You're so right, Ms. Gail That's the difference between looking and seeing.

Sonia
Brazil
25 Sep 2007, 18:01

Great! Just amazing picture!

vz-nostalgia: Ah, Ms. Sonia. Good to see you again on Nostalgia.

ray
Thailand
26 Sep 2007, 16:36

I see what you mean, VZ.
In the two biggest cities in Australia there are funparks called "Luna Park"; in Sydney it is near Manly Beach, and in Melbourne it is near St Kilda Beach.
Luna Park has a main entrance that is the facsimile of the broad toothy grin of a Clown.
I can see that entrance in your reflection.
And...the big "1372" somehow makes me think of that crazy John Belushi film "1942", that also featured a funpark.
Great image!

vz-nostalgia: Well, the building in the reflection is the EarthLink headquarters, the biggest internet provider in the US. You can freely call it a fun house, as I dumped them after they switched their customer support to India, with which I had no luck to resolve my internet problems.
Regarding Belushi, I guess you meant 1941. Things get a bit rusty, as we get older, I understand.

anniedog
United Kingdom
26 Sep 2007, 23:16

Great reflection. It has the fairy-tale look of one of Gaudi's buildings in Barcelona - I don't know if you know them. It's a bit like being in a dream.
Ingrid

vz-nostalgia: Every architect knows all Gaudi's works by heart, Ms. Ingrid.

Alistair - Digiphotology
having a sore throat
27 Sep 2007, 15:23

You are so right, reflections give us an alternative view of the world often converting the mundane into the exciting as here.

Reflections are however addictive, I find myself seeing the world through every shop window and puddle as i walk around town.

vz-nostalgia: Same here, Alistair. can't pass a good reflection since started taking pictures.

Louis
South Africa
27 Sep 2007, 20:24

The deeper you get entangled in photography, the quicker you see the opportunity.

It does make a great picture and it looks almost as if the building is smiling.

vz-nostalgia: Hey, Louis. I think the building in the reflection is laughing, because the real one is so ugly.

Dr A. W!
27 Sep 2007, 21:19

wow
love the composition

vz-nostalgia: Me too. Cheers, doc.

mal
Great Britain (UK)
27 Sep 2007, 21:21

boringly pompous buildings would be a pleasure to visit in this warped reality VZ. I particularly like the juxtaposition of the straight/normal image verses the warped reflection! But which is reality! mal

vz-nostalgia: "But which is reality!"
That's the question, mal. Many of us still prefer the flip side, the fantasy world to the harshness of the actual one. I'm not the one to judge them, though.

dorina dimitriu
Romania
23 Sep 2009, 13:30

as i see things, reality is perception based and we are the only observers of the reality we create every moment with every decision we take

vz-nostalgia: :
Dori: reality is perception based
VZ: I have to agree with that, Ms. Dori. Not sure, if it's a good thing, though, as there would be no wars in this world, no conflicts, if people have the same perception of the Truth. For now, everyone has his/her own reality of truth.

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