Friday My Town Shoot Out - Silhouettes

I first learned of the Friday My Town Shoot Out from my blog friend Barry. That lead me to the delightful blog of the Shoot Out's co-creator, a talented professional photographer named Patty, who happens to hail from my home state of Maryland.

Well, it's a great fun way to visit places all over the world in a very intimate sense. You can get the whole list of folks who participate HERE, and go to New Zealand, the Caribbean, Oklahoma, Ontario, Great Britain, Idaho, and as of today, Paducah, Kentucky.

Thank you for letting me join! I'm no great shakes as a photographer, but I live in a magical little city. Paducah Kentucky is about 255 miles west of Lexington. It's a city of around 27,000, which lives a lot larger than it is.

This week's assignment is given by Carrie: Silhouettes.

Carrie says, "I chose silhouettes because I think they make such striking photos. It's like getting the best of both worlds in one shot: black/white and color."

Okay, here goes!

I set off on my last walk of the morning on Wednesday. This is the house catty corner from ours. It used to be a speakeasy and a brothel! Upstairs, there is still a metal door with a slidey peekaboo window, just like in the old movies.

Here are my favorite silhouettes of all those pictured: my walkmates, Sam I Am and Lindy Loo.
This is at the steps of the Presbyterian Church, which was founded in 1844, and moved to this location in 1888. In the background you see a bell tower of the Catholic Church and the outline of the Hotel Irvin Cobb, named for our famous local humorist, who authored more than 60 books.

I bet you didn't know that silhouettes could be LOUD?

This is the Columbia Theater. Its marble facade bespeaks of grand days. Those days are marred, simply because this is a Matron of the South. People my age who grew up here remember that there was a separate entrance for 'coloreds' and there was a section of seating in the balcony reserved for people of color.

Isn't that amazing?

The city is seeking a buyer for this gorgeous building. There was a rumor a couple of years ago that Quentin Terrintino was going to purchase her, but that's all it was, a rumor.

Downtown in the morning.

This is the old market house. The sides used to be open for carts to back into. Now the front of the building houses the Yeiser Art Center and the back of the building houses our wonderful community theater, The Market House Theater.

Lewis and Clark and little Sacajawea, with their trusty Newfoundland were a big part of Paducah's history. Paducah sits at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers, just upstream from where they empty into the Mighty Mississippi. Looks like these good folks are trying to figure out where to go from here.

If only they had a trusty whippet guide!

The downtown roof tops now sport fancy gathering places for the fancy folks who can afford to live there. They have a lovely view of the river.

And we're home. This tree, which umbrellas Bill's gallery, was twice this size before we were hit with an historic ice storm last winter.

This was so much fun. I walked the same route that I do every day. That I've done every day for the last seven years, in one form or another. And yet I saw new things! Fresh delights opened up to me because I was looking through different eyes.

Thank you for letting me join in. I can't wait to share more of this unique place with you.

hug your hounds