Cities
Density by choice
Thankfully.
She leaned out her third-floor window to yell and tell us where we could find a parking place, Ragusa, Sicily.
A man was pouring two liters of gasoline into a roadside car,
when he said to me, "You are not safe here." A few years after this shot was taken the whole hillside burned. Valparaiso, Chile.
What are they going to do now?
For centuries these people lived off the rapidly declining tuna and swordfish fisheries. Cefalu, Sicily.
We were saved.
Arriving during Siesta, there was nothing moving, nothing. The one open place had sangria. Vejer de la Frontera, Spain.
Half inside the hillside, half out.
Used as a substitute set for a movie set in Jarusalem, this town looks almost as old. Matera, Calabria, Italy.
Troglodyte house fronts.
Until the 50's, there were thousands living in very comfortable caves they had carved from the soft stone of the hillside. Matera, Calabria, Italy.
Even storm clouds can make a city look inviting.
The drama of the light makes this city look a lot more appealing than it really is. Ragusa, Sicily.
Did we really have to do this?
The 101 at the 580 at the 680 and the 280. There has got to be a better way. San Jose, California.
A suburb from air.
Thousands of tons of dust from the Sahara settle on this city every day. Sixty-five thousand people live in the cemeteries, without water, sewers or electricity. Cairo, Egypt.
We do this kind of thing voluntarily.
Sometimes for defence or family. Proximity is something that is either comfort or an engine of conflict. Gang, Sicily.
When I awoke, I looked out the window.
The saying, "At night, all cats are gray." has relevancy here as I don't know where this is other than some where over Mexico.
Some tall buildings and everything in between.
From the Smith Tower in 1911 to the Space Needle in 1961, this town has seen a lot. Seattle Washington.
Cheek by jowel
Our cities and towns tell us a lot about who we are. Early on it was for defense. After that, we decided we liked living close together. Even if it causes more problems than we can count