All in Site Visits

The Sentinel Building at 916 Kearny Street

The Sentinel Building at 916 Kearny Street

Andrew Nelson
Site Visits

I'd hazard to guess that the drive south along the unfortunately named Columbus Avenue is among the most dangerous in all of San Francisco. The reason why is simple. It is incredibly hard to resist not taking out the phone to capture the iconic Transamerica Pyramid views. However, the most popular image is from the intersection of Pacific and Kearny as viewers can contrast some modern buildings and the great pyramid with the Sentinel Building, a copper-clad building from nearly sixty years after American colonizers invaded and took control of the land.

Visiting Collinsville, California

Visiting Collinsville, California

Andrew Nelson
Site Visits

Any visitors will find that the small enclave of Collinsville, California, is not much remarkable beyond the beautiful landscapes and waterside view. The town is an unincorporated community in Solano County, at the mouth of the Sacramento River. Visiting there felt intrusive. I drove past one or two “do not pass” signs, so I would not recommend you to visit. There is not much to see, anyway. The town endured significant damage from a wildfire on July 4th, 2014.

The NEOWISE Comet from The California Suburbs and Countryside

The NEOWISE Comet from The California Suburbs and Countryside

Andrew Nelson
Site Visits

For the month of July, our planet was visited by a remarkable comet. Its brilliance was too dim for my naked eye, either because of light pollution or because I was witnessing it as it was dimming. Still, with the camera, it pops! There is something special for me about getting to see such an uncommon event from the hometown why my astronomical interest began. This is what guided me to taking the photograph above from that exact vantage point. While the best skies I’ve ever seen were in Australia and the Sierra Nevada mountain range, I’m excited to share these photographs.

Back in California / Reflection on a Historic Photograph of this Moment

Back in California / Reflection on a Historic Photograph of this Moment

Andrew Nelson
Site Visits

I’m back in California. It has been disorienting to move back, adjust to both a nine-hour difference in time zones, and the new normal of living with lockdown in a town I had never really been familiar with, despite bordering the town where I grew up. So I wanted to share just a few of the photos from this series, and put into text the emotions I had during the process. I hope to create a more robust portfolio of this work later. For now, I want to focus on texture.

Seattle’s Central Library by OMA

Seattle’s Central Library by OMA

Andrew Nelson
Site Visits

I remember the first time I saw this building. I was with my parents, visiting my dad when he was working in the Seattle area. It must have been the late 2000s or early 2010s. We were driving through the city, my nose glued to the window as I often do as a passenger. When we drove past the structure, I was in disbelief at first. It looked like a glitch in the matrix. My parents were fairly oblivious to the situation which made it feel all the more surreal, as if I was hallucinating. And then it was gone. I had felt as if I had been shown this absurd reality and would have to internalize it forever. It wouldn’t be for a few more years before I saw photos of it. A friend from Portland posted something about that library being their favorite building on the West Coast. That’s when I learned it was a library, and that I could even go in!

Eden by Heatherwick

Eden by Heatherwick

Andrew Nelson
Site Visits

Eden is the product of Heatherwick Studios and Swire Properties. Standing 20 stories tall, it offers 20 luxury apartments for a potentially resilient market overlooking the especially affluent Ardmore neighborhood in Singapore. The building’s design plays on the theme of Singapore as a garden city. The architect referred to the founding Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, who had hoped Singapore to be like a ‘city in a garden.’ This mantra has been a powerful rallying call for the city in the 21st Century, and this building is certainly carrying on that tradition.

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