flyover

Looking towards East Falls, below the Lincoln Highway/Roosevelt Expressway. Philadelphia. The modernist freeway project clashes quite strongly with the early industrial neighborhood it passes through and over.

the visual impact of cellular sites in Philadelphia

Broad and Washington, looking east. South Philadelphia

Two photographs today, taken in the last few weeks. The first, above, is an AT&T cellular site that stands much taller than the surrounding neighborhood. While these towers rarely blend into the landscape, it is striking to see one in a residential area that sits this high above the buildings. For context, the row homes directly in front of the tower are two stories high.

The Schuylkill River looking west from Kelly Drive, Philadelphia. 

 

This second photo is a traditional Pennsylvania winter view, water, leafless trees, washed out, cold blue sky, a view that has not changed much for the last few hundred years, except for the cellular site on the left. The tall, narrow and pointy structure that sits above the treeline on the horizon is another element in the infrastructure that produces mobile communication, this one alongside the I-76 corridor heading north out of Philadelphia.

These two images offer examples of how the changes mobile connectivity brings to individual users are reflected in the landscape. Neither of these cellular sites have particularly large impact on Philadelphia's landscape, but they are one of the more visible elements of network equipment, broadcasting the ethereal radio signals that connect mobile phone calls, that bring up Internet-based information on the touchscreen of that iPhone.

lost fire hydrant

A fire hydrant in the woods somewhere near Philadelphia. These sort of scenes are a reminder of all the pipes, tubes, wires, and the like that are buried underground. Just because we cannot see the water line running to this hydrant, it is there. The roots of all these trees are intertwined with the water line, the forest and the city, nature and culture are all mixed together.

telecom signage from throughout the United States

A collection of WARNING, DO NOT DIG or general private property signage from telecommunications equipment. Locations: California--Sonora, Point Reyes, Mono Lake, Manzanar, Redondo Beach. Kentucky--Shelbyville, Finchville, Louisville. Pennsylvania--Philadelphia, Norristown. This signage is the most visible element of our communication networks, indicating the presence of the fiber-optic or copper cables that carry landline and mobile phone conversations as well as the Internet. The different designs and font choices over the years, as well as the weathering of the signs is indicative of the evolution of the systems and the telecom providers. Some of the signs are for companies that no longer exist, such as Pacific Bell. Since PacBell became AT&T, changing the signage has apparently not been a priority.

agricultural landscape with warning sign

A 'Warning: Do Not Dig' sign indicating the presence of a buried fiber-optic cable. Outside Eureka, Illinois.

penstocks and powerlines

in the Sierra Nevada foothills, Northern California. January 2010.

space age to networked age

The signage from the apparently out-of-business Astro Motel mimics the cellular antenna in the background. Space age 1950s aesthetic looking to the sky meets 21st century non-aesthetic of telecom infrastructure looking down to the mobile phones in cars zooming by on the freeway in California's Central Valley. The flatness of the landscape makes the verticality of the structures even more distinct. Summer 2010. (I forget if this is Interstate 5 or Highway 99, but it is one of the two, somewhere between Merced and Bakersfield.)

freeway interchange

Oakland, California, in the weeds.

please turn off

More signage in a decommissioned hydroelectric power plant in Northern California. December 2010.

ladies rest room

Hand-painted signage in a decommissioned hydroelectric power plant in Northern California. Ladies have to go upstairs to use the rest room. December 2010.