Mandrell - Indianapolis: the Circle City

INDIANAPOLIS

The Circle City LEE MANDRELL FOREWORD BY Matthew Tully This book is a publication of
Quarry Books an imprint of INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA iupress.indiana.edu 2016 by Lee Mandrell
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in China Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Mandrell, Lee, photographer.
Title: Indianapolis: the Circle City / Lee Mandrell; foreword by Matthew Tully.
Description: Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015048275 | ISBN 9780253021618 (cloth) | ISBN 9780253021694 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Indianapolis (Ind.)Pictorial works. | Indianapolis (Ind.)Buildings, structures, etc.Pictorial works.
Classification: LCC F534.I343 M36 2016 | DDC 977.2/52dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015048275 1 2 3 4 5 21 20 19 18 17 16 by Matthew Tully Indianapolis as Seen from the Central Canal For me as a writer it is always humbling to work with great photographers, and Ive been fortunate enough over the years to work with many of them.

No matter what Ive written, no matter how good I might think a piece of work is, time and again Ive found that a photographer with a sharp eye and a passion for the job can help an ink-stained newspaper columnist like me reach people in a way that words alone rarely can. And a great photo, a great series of photos, can help you understand an issue, a person, or even a city better than you thought possible. Some of the best photos capture moments so fleeting that most of us would have missed them. Others take us into worlds we didnt know existed. And some photographsand this might actually be the most challenging task of alltackle subjects that we have seen hundreds or thousands of times before. They show us subjects so familiar to us, so much a part of our lives, yet they offer a perspective or a slice of beauty and color that we have never seen.

In this stunning book of photography, Lee Mandrell offers scores of beautiful and vibrant photos of Indianapolis, the city Ive lived in and around most of my adult life. He has captured public buildings, museums, parks, and monuments that hold deep and important memories for me and so many other Hoosiers. This book showcases the Statehouse, the downtown canal, Monument Circle, the zoo, and so many other locations that feel almost like second homes. But heres the amazing part: Lee so often does this while allowing us to see these places and our hometown in entirely new ways. The triumph of this book is that Lee has created fresh images of the places and buildings we know so well. Perhaps Lees photos of the Indiana Statehouse struck me most.

This building means the world to me. An early assignment there, an assignment granted to a green and unpolished reporter whod only recently broken into the newspaper business, provided me with a path to a wonderful career in writing and reporting. And, on a much more important note, I care about the building because its where I met my wife twenty years ago. Ive spent countless hours in the statehouse, not always loving the politics unfolding inside it but always appreciating the craft and architecture that went into creating it so long ago. Ive studied and photographed it many times, struck by its beauty and history. Still, as well as I know the building, I found myself staring for minutes at Lees photos of it, noticing for the first time the way the lights nearby on Market Street and in the offices below complemented the capitol dome.

Lee was able to make the world around the buildingthe cars and the streetlightspop in a way that only a great photographer can. I am not a photography expert, and I cannot intelligently discuss the techniques used by those who make their living making pictures. As much as I love great photography, I often find it hard to explain why a picture sticks with me, why it resonates with me. I agree with what Ansel Adams once said: There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs. And this book is filled with good photographs. Well, actually, it is filled with great photographs.

Anyone who has worked in newspapers or any similar field will tell you that hard work is the difference between good writing and bad writing, or between good writing and great writing. The editing and rewriting process is not funworking over the same words time and again, going back for more information, ripping up some of what youve written in hopes of finding a sentence or a paragraph that makes the piece sing a little more. But thats what writers must do. I think many people dont understand that great photographers do the same type of thing. A great eye and a lot of talent are critical. But so is old-fashioned hard work.

Lee, for instance, told me that for some of his photos he went back to the scene time after time, hoping to catch a better ray of light or a different angle, desperate to see the subjects in new and different ways. The shots are there, he said. You just have to go find them. Photos of the monuments and buildings that we know so well particularly require that approach. In this book, Lee has captured Indys familiar places in unfamiliar, vibrant ways, and thats what impressed me most. At the zoo, his photos from underneath the dolphin pool glimmer with light.

In the wonderful Fountain Square neighborhood, a blue-green fountain in the foreground helps the main subject of the work, a colorful marquee, look even more interesting than it has the hundreds of times Ive passed by. I can only imagine how many photography books have been published about cities such as New York and Chicagocities known globally for their architecture and style. Those cities deserve those books. But it is also important to appreciate the life, vibrancy, and beauty that exist in cities such as Indianas beloved capital. That can be easy to overlook in the bustle of our busy lives.

I wish to thank some people for their help, encouragement, and support. I wish to thank some people for their help, encouragement, and support.

Without it, much of this would probably have been impossible and my life as I know it would have likely had a much different path. First, my parents, who have always made sacrifices and have never thought of themselves first. The contributions they have made along the way, throughout the years, have never gone unappreciated. I know that it was a challenge for them to buy me a real camera all those years ago, and I have never forgotten it. My inspiration for art and photography comes from these two people. My dad was a decent artist in his youth, so I picked that up from him.

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