FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/70 sec, ISO200)
Finally back in the heat in sunny Phoenix, Arizona. This time we decided to look at the murals in downtown.
And be doing that we did something truly suspicious – we walked. Luckily all the murals are in a rather small area and there wasn’t a lot of traffic so we didn’t stick out and nobody called the police. This part of Phoenix was practically a ghost town that morning. We decided to go early to avoid the heat later that day. It was still very warm.
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/8, 1/150 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/10, 1/80 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/60 sec, ISO250)
We just love murals. There are so many walls. Just empty, grey, useless. Murals bring back the color. Graffiti do that too to some point but I clearly prefer the much brighter and more colourful murals. I also found some in Vienna around the Naschmarkt and of course those fantastic ones that I discovered during one of my bike rides.
I’m really glad that I finally found this place the evening before when we decided what to do while in Phoenix.
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/420 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/9, 1/60 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/9, 1/220 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/9, 1/60 sec, ISO250)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/9, 1/60 sec, ISO250)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/9, 1/70 sec, ISO200)
The air was fresh and warm, the sky was cloudless, it was very quiet (because there was no one around) and the palm trees were swaying in the warm wind. It was just perfect except for the trash that was anywhere. And it was not “just” yesterday’s litter. The trash in the gutter looked like it started to decompose which brought me back to New Delhi, India for a moment.
We love the USA for vacation, especially the South West. The landscape, the endless skies, the deserts, the mountains, the Pacific coast. This place is paradise with a dash of India when it comes to litter and public bathrooms. The public toilets are straight out of a horror movie. They all look like they haven’t been cleaned in weeks and for no apparent reason the doors are straight out of a wild west saloon. I’m not shy person but I would definitely prefer a little more privacy.
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/60 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/550 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/240 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/70 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/140 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/160 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/150 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/160 sec, ISO200)
Back to the murals. Those can widely vary in craftsmanship. Most of the murals in downtown Phoenix are excellent. I was really surprised how masterful some of them were. I especially loved the one behind the restaurant, the woman with the guitar and the one with the young native woman. I didn’t like the construction work in the alley because the machines obstructed most of the murals. But the yellow excavator right in front of the blue mural next to the young native woman improved the frame substantially.
On the container murals the cloudless sky of Arizona was so amazing that I decided to frame a little wider in order to show the sky. We haven’t seen such a sky that often in Austria this summer and while I write this blog post it’s as dark as November already even though October just started. I guess that’s why I decided to post images from our USA trip in September 2023. I have to finish the blog post of this trip before our next vacation.
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/680 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/850 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/8, 1/600 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/8, 1/240 sec, ISO200)
Those murals are really fantastic and they should deserve a bigger audience. We expected more tourists to take a look at them but we saw only two girls taking pictures with their phones. But I get it. This is our eight vacation in the USA, the seventh in the South West. We have visited all the main attractions already so we now have a more relaxed approach. On our very first trip we raced through the South West as we were on fire. Yosemite, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Highway number 1, San Francisco, … You get the picture. Now luckily it is different which improved the quality of our vacation a lot. After our first three week road trip in a 29f RV I felt like I needed a vacation.
To wrap this up: This is maybe not a prime attraction for first time visitors from Europe or other parts of the world but if you are in Phoenix and you have some time I strongly recommend to check it out.
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (23mm, f/8, 1/170 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/9, 1/100 sec, ISO200)
One remark regarding my gear. At this vacation I had two camera bags. One was a back bag holding my Fuji X-Pro3 plus 10-24/4, 16-55/2.8 and 50-140/2.8. The other one was my small shoulder bag from ThinkTank holding my X-Pro2 plus 14/2.8, 23/2 and 35/1.4. That way I don’t have to swap gear around in my bags. I just had to grab either the back bag or in cities and in the evening my shoulder bag and I was good to go. Very efficient.
I meanwhile switched to Nikon Z but kept my small Fuji setup. So on my next vacation in the USA it would be just the same. Rucksack with the Nikon during the day and shoulder bag with my Fuji in cities and when we go for dinner in the evening.
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/9, 1/420 sec, ISO200)
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