slides: James Clayton Sattel’s RI Views: Providence

Saturday, September 22, 2012

James Clayton Sattel, GoLocalProv Contributor

Photographer James Clayton Sattel is passionate about Rhode Island, particularly those shores, crags, and vistas of his home island: Aquidneck. GoLocalProv is delighted to be collaborating with Jim this summer on curated sets of his images that capture coastal life so vividly.

This week, though, Jim turns his eye—and lens—on the urban outlines of Providence. From steeples and towers to bridges and the neon-lit facades of downcity, Jim mines the beauty of the capital city's many vistas.

To see more of or purchase Sattel's distinctive views, go here.

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Providence River

The view toward Narragansett Bay, on the river that brought the earlier commercial ships to the Colonial wharfs of Providence. Now, the industrial shapes add texture to a vista that used to open gently to the Bay.

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State House

The elegant and powerful capital dome, its marble sharp against the clear blue skies. Designed by McKim, Mead & White, it was begun in 1895 and finished in 1904. Even in the modern age, it defines and still dominates the Providence skyline.

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State House II

At night, the marble canvas of the State House is painted with a great variety of colorful lights, depending on the season and a particular cause. Coming up this October, we'll see her all in pink, in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

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Banks By Night

Like the State House, Providence's other buildings light up to make the darkening skyline something truly colorful. Here the mass of bank buildings along Kennedy Plaza begin to glow in the late dusk light.

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Power Plant

Providence really is a wonderful city to photograph at night. The Manchester Street Electric Power Plant, with its quietly blinking red signal lights, is a beautiful complement to the lights of downtown, up the Providence River.

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Domes & Steeples

Much like in Newport to the south, Providence has a cityscape punctuated by domes and steeples. Vistas get more and more interesting when you notice them "stacking up" from foreground to background, as the Old Stone Bank building does here with First Unitarian Church.

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Steeples & Domes II

The contrasts are everywhere, delightfully so, on College Hill, and the autumn leaves provide a blazing layer between the architectural interplay of weathervane and dome.

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Brick On Brick

It is amazing to me how Providence has so many architectural riches... and I'm spoiled by Newport! Here, there's a gorgeous contast of two Georgian buildings, massed in interesting opposition.

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Modern Times

And now for something completely different! In a city so filled with historical architecture--Colonial, Federal, Victorian--there are wonderful pops of modern whimy, such as this playful sidewalk clock on Washington Street in Providence's downtown.

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Old & New

In fact, new and old live side by side throughout the downcity area of Providence. Here, an older steeple shares the landscape with the modern towers of the Westin Hotel.

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Reflections

The reflective mirrored blocks that make up the G-TECH corporate headquarters in Providence take on the old-style architecture that crowns the very modern Providence Place Mall. History reflected in modern architecture, reflected BY modern architecture.