Ruins of Wickeden Street

by Todd Stevens

I was driving down Wickeden Street (East Side of Providence) making may way to the I 195 and noticed that half of the overpass was missing above me. Since the new Iway was built in Providence they are knocking down old highways and exits to clear land for new development. I used to work at Campus Fine Wines in that neighborhood so I have been under it thousands of times.Its good that they are knocking it down because it was falling apart and it was dangerous. Some of the worst pot holes in the state were there. Homeless people would hold their signs under it next to the busy stoplight. The reason it will be missed is because it had a big mural on it.There are awesome paintings giving a new style to the classics. This modern mural has improvised art from Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Goya, Picasso, and Andy Warhol among others.
The other great aspect about these murals are there are colorful and funky ads of businesses from the community painted all over the walls and concrete pillars.Because this overpass is so old and raggedy, all the paint is peeling off in all directions which inspired me to photograph it. I thought it would be important to document this before it was completely demolished by bulldozers. Despite all the rubble, broken wood, twisted rerod, peeling paint, vulgar graffiti, and orange construction barrels, this place is a local landmark and it will be missed. I hope something will go back up and be equally creative. I like this side of Providence and I know that its important to the businesses, colleges,artists, and people who live and work in that area. My favorite pic is the one with the Hot Club and other businesses with the peeling paint. My friend goes there every Friday nightand he's getting a new picture in his office. Well enjoy these pictures because pretty soon this will be something else.

All Photos by Todd Stevens
www.toddstevensphoto.com

Pareidolia - Faces in the Woods

by Todd Stevens

I was taking a hike and taking pictures in Squantum Woods in East Providence,RI and I found a dead tree on the side of a trail. I looked inside the cavity and found many faces looking at me in the rotten wood.I saw all kinds of faces, some pretty, some creepy,lots of bearded men,some old men,big eyes,mother nature,a handlebar mustache,fairies,a leprechaun,lots of skulls, a few Indian faces,and an alligator. I first thought that I was seeing things but then I showed my friends in my photo club. They all agreed that I'm crazy but they saw the faces too and picked out a few that I missed. We all got a good laugh out of it. I did a Google search for "seeing faces in nature" when I got home and found pareidolia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia . Check it out, Its very interesting. For your best results make the slide show as large as possible and stare at it for a few minutes. You will find multiple faces in each picture. Have fun and use your imagination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia

Pareidolia (pronounced /pærɪˈdoʊliə/) is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon, and hearing hidden messages on records played in reverse. The word comes from the Greek para- ("beside", "with", or "alongside"—meaning, in this context, something faulty or wrong (as in paraphasia, disordered speech)) and eidolon ("image"; the diminutive of eidos ("image", "form", "shape")). Pareidolia is a type of apophenia.

All Photos by Todd Stevens Photography

www.toddstevensphoto.com