Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

Back on Easter, I posted a photo of a Labyrinth someone had made in the snow. When it snowed again this last week, the labyrinth maker was back. I had my good camera and took some better photos for you. Then, in a fit of over-explanation, I drew a plan for making one.

A labyrinth is different from a maze in that you can’t get lost; there is only one path. They are found in many ancient places including cathedrals. To walk a labyrinth, you enter the path and think about a problem or question. As you walk it, meditate on the problem. When you reach the center, leave the problem there and come back out. It reminds me of the crooked bridges you find in Japanese gardens — the evil spirits are supposed to get lost and let on the bridge.

Anyhow, I enjoyed making a few of them myself, I wish I had discovered this earlier in the winter, so I could have made more. It’s a fun thing to do in the snow that’s easier and less messy than making a snow man. I’d really enjoy it if others did them too — hey kids, it’s better karma than misspelling-out obscenities in the snow!

Though it looks simple, it takes a lot of concentration and practice to make one. My drawing is off, now that I look at it, but you get the idea.

The photos. The first one is at an angle so that you can see the whole thing. If I backed up, I was too low and the ridges all blended together. All the photos have been clarified and contrasted to make it easier to see the white-on-white.

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

Olde time city hall, with a modern parking garage.

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

A proliferation of saturation brings me satisfaction; a simple motivation: transformation and experimentation. An exploration of reflection provides vindication or mere justification for over-manipulation of my creation at my production workstation. Further explanation, in my humble estimation, seems desperation.

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

Looming over the Minneapolis skyline, the Qwest tower’s creepy pinnacle has a cold-war chic / Wizard of Oz thing going on. Though not even close to making the list of the tallest buildings in Minneapolis, the Qwest tower has it’s place in Minneapolis mythology.

Minneapolis has one very unique geological attribute — it’s in the middle of the far North. Thus, it is safe from invasion. A lot of the cold-war infrastructure is up here, hidden in plain sight, and this baby is one of them. Also on this list are refineries, munition factories, and a lot of things I don’t think I should talk about. Relics from a recently-bygone era, but still extremely valuable.

My uncle used to work in the Qwest tower and gave me a tour one day. As a preeminent technophile, I loved seeing the inside of this place, but it soon terrified me. The amount of equipment in this place is astounding. Most of the tower is like a dense university library, only the shelves are network racks.

This photo was designed to reflect my opinion of the place. I zoomed in on the odd pinnacle and cropped it in a way to emphasize the geometric simplicity of it. I blew out the sky and emphasized the contrast of the building to make it as stark and edgy as possible. Like a dragon poking it’s horns over the treetops: sizing up the villagers below. Maybe I should bring a sacrificial goat and leave it in the lobby today.

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

What’s Cell Phone Sunday?

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

This sculpture is titled “Your Dog” by Yoshitomo Nara and is in the new wing of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I was there Thursday evening for the opening for artist Richard Rock.

To compliment the show, Richard hired Mitch Rossow Design, Inc. (the parent corporation of this blog) to design a website for him. It has images of all his work and information about the artist. You can see the website for Fine Artist & Oil Painter, Richard Rock here.

Several events are scheduled with the artist at the MIA, you can learn about it at the MIA page about the Richard Rock Show.

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

Back last Friday when I was looking for a shot of the falls for the theme day post, I wandered down in the river valley across from Minneapolis and found this miserable, desolate area right in the middle of the city. Everything down there was dead, brown and dirty. It actually made me miss the snow. Then on Monday when it snowed six inches of very wet slop & slush, I got over it.

Thanks again, for all the great comments on my April First Hoax.