Boston Through Photography
A Photographer’s Guide to the City of Boston
Boston Through Photography
Photography by Kyle Bianchi 1
Christian Science Center
250 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA 02115 2
The Christian Science Center is a 14.5-acre site on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Huntington Avenue in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. A popular tourist attraction, the center is owned by the Church of Christ, Scientist, which refers to it as Christian Science Plaza. The Christian Science Center comprises 10.4 acres of open space, a 690 x 100 ft reflecting pool, a children’s fountain, and six buildings: The First Church of Christ, Scientist, the Christian Science Publishing House, the Mary Baker Eddy
Library, Mapparium, the Reflection Hall, the Colonnade building, and the Administration building. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, also known as The Mother Church, is the administrative headquarters and the mother church of the Church of Christ, Scientist, also known as the Christian Science church. Christian Science was founded in the 19th century in Lynn, Massachusetts, by Mary Baker Eddy with the publication of her book, Science and Health (1875). 3
Charles River Esplanade
89–131 Storrow Dr, Boston, MA 02114 4
The Charles River Esplanade of Boston, Massachusetts, is a state-owned park situated in the Back Bay area of the city, on the banks of the Charles River. Storrow Drive runs alongside it. In the park are walkways, statuary, the Hatch Memorial Shell performance stage, playgrounds, ballfields, and Community Boating. The Esplanade comprises part of the Charles River Reservation state park. Pedestrian access to the park exists at Charles Circle, Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, and Beacon Street. The Esplanade was dedicated as the Boston Embankment in 1910. The Embankment was created as part of the construction of the 1910 Charles River Dam (today the site of the Museum of Science). The parkland was criticized for its lack of shade trees, refreshment stands, recreation facilities, transportation utility, and visitors. It extended to Charlesgate (upstream of the Harvard Bridge) and connected with Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace. To address criticism, trees, a refreshment pavilion, and concerts were brought to the park. 5
Top of the Hub 800 Boylston St Boston, MA 02199 6
The Prudential Tower, also known as the Prudential Building or, colloquially, The Pru, is an International Style skyscraper in Boston, Massachusetts. The building, a part of the Prudential Center complex, currently stands as the 2nd-tallest building in Boston, behind the 200 Clarendon building. The Prudential Tower was designed by Charles Luckman and Associates for Prudential Insurance. Completed in 1964, the building is 749 feet (228 m) tall, with 52 floors. It contains 1,200,000 sq ft (110,000 m2) of commercial and retail space. Including its radio mast, the tower stands as the tallest building in Boston and is tied with others as the 77th-tallest in the United States, rising to 907 feet (276 m) in height. A 50th-floor observation deck, called the Skywalk Observatory, is currently the highest observation deck in New England open to the public, as the higher observation deck of the John Hancock Tower has been closed since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. A restaurant, the Top of the Hub, occupies the 52nd floor.
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Copley Square
560 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02116 8
Copley Square, named for painter John Singleton Copley, is a public square in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. A remarkable number of important Boston educational and cultural institutions were originally located adjacent to (or very near) Copley Square, reflecting 19th-century Boston’s aspirations for it as a center of culture and progress. These include the Museum of Fine Arts, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School, the New England Museum of Natural History (today’s Museum of Science), Trinity Church, the New Old South Church, the Boston Public Library, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Massachusetts Normal Art School (today’s Massachusetts College of Art), the Horace Mann School for the Deaf, Boston University, Emerson College and Northeastern University.
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Comm Ave Mall
300 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA, 02115 10
Commonwealth Avenue (colloquially referred to as Comm Ave by locals) is a major street in the cities of Boston and Newton, Massachusetts. It begins at the western edge of the Boston Public Garden, and continues west through the neighborhoods of the Back Bay, Kenmore Square, Allston, Brighton and Chestnut Hill. Often compared to Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s Paris boulevards, Commonwealth Avenue in Back Bay is a parkway divided at center by a wide grassy mall. This greenway, called Commonwealth Avenue Mall, is punctuated with statuary and memorials, and forms the narrowest “link” in the Emerald Necklace. It connects the Public Garden to the Fens. The Commonwealth Avenue Mall was designed by Arthur Delevan Gilman. Frederick Law Olmsted designed the Newton portion of Commonwealth Ave and included the parkway as part of the Emerald Necklace park system. The first statue on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall was erected in 1865 at Arlington Street. 11
Public Garden 4 Charles St Boston, MA 02116 12
The Public Garden, also known as Boston Public Garden, is a large park located in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to Boston Common. The Public Garden was established in 1837 when philanthropist Horace Gray petitioned for the use of land as the first public botanical garden in the United States. Gray helped marshal political resistance to a number of Boston City Council attempts to sell the land in question, finally settling the issue of devoting it to the Public Garden in 1856. The Act establishing use of the land was submitted to the voters on 26 April 1856 where it passed with only 99 dissents. Permanent flower plantings in the garden include numerous varieties of roses, bulbs, and flowering shrubs. The beds flanking the central pathway are replanted on a rotating schedule throughout the year, with different flowers for each season from mid-spring through early autumn. Plantings are supplied from 14 greenhouses the city operates at Franklin Park for the purpose. 13
Boston Common Tremont St Boston, MA 02116 14
Boston Common (also known as the Common) is a central public park in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is sometimes erroneously referred to as the “Boston Commons”. Dating from 1634, it is the oldest city park in the United States. The Boston Common consists of 50 acres (20 ha) of land bounded by Tremont Street, Park Street, Beacon Street, Charles Street, and Boylston Street. The Common is part of the Emerald Necklace of parks and parkways that extend from the Common south to Franklin Park in Roxbury. A visitors’ center for all of Boston is located on the Tremont Street side of the park. The Central Burying Ground is located on the Boylston Street side of Boston Common and contains the burial sites of the artist Gilbert Stuart and the composer William Billings. Also buried there are Samuel Sprague and his son, Charles Sprague, one of America’s earliest poets. Samuel Sprague was a participant in the Boston Tea Party and fought in the Revolutionary War. 15
Beacon Hill Beacon Hill Boston, MA 16
Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood is 9,023. It is a neighborhood of Federal-style rowhouses and is known for its narrow, gaslit streets and brick sidewalks. Today, Beacon Hill is regarded as one of the most desirable and expensive neighborhoods in Boston. Because the Massachusetts State House is in a prominent location at the top of the hill, the term “Beacon Hill” is also often used as a metonym in the local news media to refer to the state government or the legislature. The Massachusetts State House, located on Beacon Street, is the home of the Commonwealth’s government. The gold-domed state capitol building was designed by Charles Bulfinch and was completed in 1798. Many of the country’s state capitol buildings were modeled after the State House. 17
Acorn Street Acorn St Boston, MA 02108 18
Located on Beacon Hill and a rich part of Boston’s historic roots, Acorn Street was established in the 1820s and is home to Mt. Vernon’s illustrious gardens. On one side of the narrow, cobblestone road lie the mystical gardens, and on the other, well-maintained colonial homes. At one time, 19th century artisans and tradesmen inhabited these homes, which are among the most photographed treasures in Boston today. With hotels, restaurants, and shops right around the corner, it manages to feel like an escape from the bustle of the everyday. There’s only one word for Acorn Street – charming. Walking up and down the street on a biting November night, admiring vines covering old brick and harvest decorations sprinkling each doorstep, you will rediscover the simplicity and beauty of another time. You won’t feel like an intruder, but rather like a part of the colonial majesty, becoming a resident of the street, an inhabitant in one of the noble, carefully crafted homes, a neighbor to fellow tradesmen, and a frequent visitor to the gardens.
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Museum of Science Parking Garage Rooftop
1 Science Park, Boston, MA 02114 20
The Museum of Science (MoS) is a Boston, Massachusetts landmark, located in Science Park, a plot of land spanning the Charles River. Along with over 700 interactive exhibits, the museum features a number of live presentations throughout the building every day, along with shows at the Charles Hayden Planetarium and the Mugar Omni Theater, the only domed IMAX screen in New England. The museum is also an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and is home to over 100 animals, many of which have been rescued and rehabilitated from various dangerous situations. The museum is also one of the city’s three bases of operations for Boston’s privately operated Duck Tours. Starting in 2013, the Museum of Science has been undergoing a major renovation to upgrade the physical structure and develop new educational content. This $250 million campaign will upgrade nearly half of the Exhibit Halls from 2012, and open three new major exhibits: the Hall of Human Life, the Yawkey Gallery on the Charles River, and What Is Technology? 21
China Town Beach Street Boston, MA 02111 22
Chinatown, Boston is a neighborhood located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the only historically surviving Chinese area in New England since the demise of Chinatown in Providence, Rhode Island after the 1950’s. Because of the high population of Asian Americans living in this area of Boston, there are an abundance of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants located in Chinatown. It is one of the most densely populated residential areas in Boston, and is the center of Asian American life there. Chinatown borders the Boston Common, the Downtown Crossing, the Washington Street Theatre District, Bay Village, the South End, and the Southeast Expressway/Massachusetts Turnpike. Part of the Chinatown neighborhood occupies a space that was reclaimed by filling a tidal flat. The newly created area was first settled by Anglo-Bostonians. After residential properties in this area became less desirable due to railway developments, it was settled by a mixed succession of Irish, Jewish, Italian, Syrian, and Chinese immigrants. 23
Map of Boston
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1. Christian Science Center 2. Charles River Esplanade 3. Top of the Hub 4. Copley Square 5. Commonwealth Ave Mall 6. Public Garden 7. Boston Common 8. Beacon Hill 9. Acorn Street 10. Museum of Science 11. China Town 25
Photography by Kyle Bianchi