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Lens-Artists Challenge #291 – Cityscapes

Downtown Fargo.

Fargo, North Dakota.

This week, Patti gets right down to business with her challenge. She writes, “This week we’re showcasing cities, large and small, near and far. What are the features of your chosen city? Show us buildings, skylines, the streets, the people, and life in public spaces.” You can read her entire challenge post here.

I have a large collection of cityscape images from my travels across the United States, but I decided to focus on my hometown to share images from a place I’ve called home for over 45 years.

My first few images feature shots captured in downtown Fargo, the 219th largest city in the United States. When we moved to North Dakota in 1978, Fargo’s population was about 60,000. Today, it’s over 120,000. My opening image was captured on a walk back to our car from dinner at a downtown restaurant at around sunset at 7:50 PM CDT.

Fargo at Dusk.

I’ve featured this image before in color, so I thought I’d share it as a black-and-white image processed in Silver Efex 3. It features the historic Fargo Theater’s marquee on a busy Tuesday evening in 2016.

Bob Dylan mural.

Not far down Broadway from the Fargo Theater is the Viking Hotel building, now known as the Bison Apartments. In 2022, another mural was added to the city’s public art collection. The three-story painting of musician Bob Dylan is a recollection of Dylan’s living in 1959 at the hotel, and then staying with friends in Fargo for a time.

Greetings Tour Mural in process.

Over the years, many murals have brought color and told a history of my hometown. In June 2021, as a part of the Greetings Tour, two artists added one of their signature images to a wall in downtown Fargo.

Night trails.

Two major Interstate highways intersect in Fargo. I-29 and I-94 cross paths around a mile from the pedestrian bridge where I captured traffic in the early evening of October 11, 2013.

Aerial view of Saint Mary’s Cathedral.

Over the years, I’ve captured many aerial views of Fargo, mostly as a photographer on Civil Air Patrol missions focusing on flood images in the spring when the Red River exceeds its banks creating the potential for flood damage in the city. On the occasion of this photo, I was in the back seat of a rented plane while a friend of mine was getting a flight lesson. In the process, I captured some images of the city below us as we went out to the practice areas.

Red River in the Winter.

That same river that flows through downtown Fargo and can cause localized flooding in unprotected areas is a major attraction for residents in both winter and summer. This view of the river is looking toward downtown Fargo as it calmly meanders through the city.

Red River at flood stage in North Fargo.

In March 2010, Fargo experienced a fast melt from a winter with heavy snow. There was flooding all along the Red River the entire length of the state. This view shows water overflowing the bridge on 12th Avenue North. Fargo is a border city and the bridge crosses the river into Moorhead, Minnesota which is where we were flying at the time I captured this image from the back seat of our photo plane.

Incidentally, the view of the Red River in Winter above was taken from a spot along the shore on the far right of the aerial image. That area is underwater in the image immediately above. The snow-covered narrow area in the river is the same location in both photos.

The Red River at Orchard Glen.

In south Fargo, a former orchard has been transformed into a city park where residents can freely pick the harvest from the many fruit trees that were left on the land when it was donated to the city. The orchard is next to the river where we have enjoyed many visits in recent years. The photo demonstrates that there can be many beautiful natural views within a city.

My own backyard.

We live in a condo in Fargo, and just before Christmas in 2022, a blanket of snow covered our driveway. I captured this image with my cell phone of our yard from my office window. I used Silver Efex to convert the image to black-and-white. That’s my challenge-response for this week. You can view the images in HD on my Flickr site here.

Thanks to Patti for this theme that allowed me to share so many beautiful views of my hometown. Last week’s Circular Wonders hosted by Ann-Christine was a fitting theme for mid-March when we celebrate Pi Day, March 14 (3.14), a fact I forgot to note in my response to the sort of holiday. Next week, Tina hosts. Be sure to follow her at Travels and Trifles so you don’t miss her challenge at noon on Saturday. If you’d like to participate in the challenge each week, but aren’t sure how to get started, you can get some help here.

John Steiner

69 comments

  1. I have to confess, John, that I had to look at the map to find the location of Fargo, US geography not being my strong point. I automatically think of Wells Fargo, but I don’t even know if there’s a connection. Irrespective of that your photos are great and tell the story perfectly.

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    • Thanks, Jo. He was named after the man who helped start Wells Fargo Express, a stagecoach company in the 19th century. From the Internet: Fargo’s namesake was an express man in New York William George Fargo, for whom Fargo, N.D., is named, was born at Pompey, N.Y., on May 20, 1817, the oldest of 12 children.

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    • I’d known he lived for a time in Fargo, but until the mural was painted and the history behind it shared, I didn’t know the details of his connection to the city.

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  7. It has been a while since I have spent significant time in Fargo. Enjoyed your tour and some murals I didn’t know about. Take care and keep posting!

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  8. I have learned so much about Fargo since knowing you in the blogosphere. And you certainly brought it to life once again in this post, John. The sunset and winter images were stunning. I love that many cities are tidying up areas with welcomes, and murals, and the Bob Dylan would be a fun one to come across. And orchard park. What a great place for people to gather. I would image there are many opportunities for city events during harvest seasons. You have had an interesting life. Loved this.

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  15. It’s always interesting to ‘visit’ the home towns of blogging friends and you’ve done Fargo proud. I love the B&W dusk shot and the snowy one of the river in particular.

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  17. Thanks for showing us Fargo John. On our cross country trip, we didn’t get to North Dakota so this is a real treat for me. All your images were great and your narrative informative. Thanks again for the trip.

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  18. Great photos, John. The only idea I had of Fargo was from the movie by the same name. I loved your sharing Fargo’s rating among the US largest cities. With that population, it sounds like a tranquil city.

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  19. Great selections John, each one interesting and different. Love that opening street view. I’m surprised the Cor(p)s(e) of Engineers hasn’t taken a whack at the Red River flooding at some time or another.

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    • Oh, the Corps have done that up north at Grand Forks, and right now, there’s a big project underway south of Fargo that will help. Most of the city is protected with diking and other measures over the years, but when the engineering is done, we should be safe for 500 years. >grin<

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  20. Hi John. I really enjoyed your portrait of Fargo. The murals are terrific as well as your aerial shots. I especially loved your black and white image and the car trails. Wonderful! 

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  23. Thank you for a great tour of your home town, John! Especially the winter shot of Red River is lovely, and the Dylan mural really caught my eye. So vertikal and hidden that you have to walk by from the right direction to see it.

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  26. What a fun visit you gave us this week John!! Loved the images and envy your views from the sky! On the other hand, while beautiful, I don’t envy the snowy scene LOL!

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