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138th Street, Harlem, Manhattan

The Abyssinian Baptist Church, built in 1922-23, is the home of one of New York City's oldest church organizations and the second oldest within the family of African-American churches, in Manhattan.

Organized in 1808 by a small group of black worshippers who withdrew from the predominantly white First Baptist Church on Gold Street,, the Abyssnian Baptist Church was incorporated in the following year adopting the ancient name for Ethiopia.

The northward movement of the Abyssinian congregation, which occupied several successive locations from its first home in a wooden church on Worth Street to its imposing stone edifice in Harlem, followed the residential patterns of New York's black population. Under the leadership of the Reverend William Spellman during the second half of the nineteenth century the church grew rapidly into of the wealthiest of the "African'' congregations.

In the twentieth century, the Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Sr.'s "social gospel", blending social activism with spiritual leadership, set the tone for Abyssinian's ongoing mission to serve its community. Commissioned during Powell's tenure, the striking church building and the adjoining community house were the work of Charles W. Bolton & Son, a productive Philadelphia firm which specialized in churches.

The neo-Gothic design of the church reflects the tradition of Protestant church architecture of the 1920s. Powell's son and successor, Adam Clayton Powell Jr, - who served eleven terms as a U.S. Congressman -put Abyssinian at the forefront of the national crusade for social reform and civil rights. During his pastorate, the church membership grew to over 10,000, placing it among the largest Protestant churches in the world. Today, the church leadership under the Reverend Calvin Butts continues its commitment religious and social service and economic development in Harlem.

Abyssinian Baptist Church is a symmetrically-planned building faced with rock-faced blocks of Manhattan schist laid in random ashlar and trimmed with white terra cotta. The church occupies approximately three-quarters of its 150-foot wide lot; the asymmetrical community house adjoins the main church building to the east. The church is massed with a central gabled section flanked by square towers; a somewhat lower tower marks the east end of the community house.

The focal point of the church facade is the central gabled section. The gabled facade has a high base that is pierced by three grops of three windows each, the openings separated by terracotta, piers. The openings were apparently originally filled with leaded, diamond-paned windows.

A terra cotta beltcourse..separates the base from themain section of the gable which is pierced by an enormous pointed-arched window that fills most of the facade. The sides of the window are flanked by a keyed terra-cotta enframement, while the section from the springline to the peak of the arch is outlined by a projecting terra-cotta molding that continues, from the springline, across the church and community house facades.

The large stained-glass window opening, with its terra-cotta tracery, is divided vertically into three sections by stepped, buttress-like piers composed of rock-faced stone (the step of each buttress has terra-cotta coping), and smooth terra cotta at the upper portions. Horizontally, the expanse of glass is broken by a band of square Gothic panels, each bearing a shield embellished with a Greek cross. The window is covered with protective sash at the exterior. Running across the gabled facade, above the window, is a terra-cotta beltcourse ornamented with terra-cotta bosses in the form of angels, saints, and symbols of the four evangelists. The crenelated roofline of the gable is outlined by a terra-cotta cap molding.

At the peak of the gable is a terra-cotta niche crowned by a bouquet.

Each of the square end towers is divided from bottom to top into four sections (entrance, two window sections, and parapet); the upper two sections rise above the central gable, the community house, and the surrounding buildings. The beltcourses on the gable all continue onto the tower facades. Each tower has a central, pointed-arched entrance set within a rectangular terra-cotta enframement (several steps lead to the entrance in the east tower). Each pair of wooden doors is located below a pointed-arched wood transom divided into seven panels that were probably originally filled with leaded glass.

The spandrels are ornamented with shields set within quatrefoils. Above the entrances, the second level of each tower is articulated by a pointed-arched opening with a terra-cotta keyed surround. Each of these openings is divided into two windows with terracotta tracery. The third section of each tower has similar windows cut into both the front and side elevations; each of these windows is capped by a drip lintel with trefoil spandrels. The beltcourse below th

Don't know what this plant is, but it is huge... Here the morning light was reflecting a bit off the silky white threads; I did not even realize the "web" of horizontal threads was there until I saw these macro shots... I like macro photography because it does reveal things that we can't see with the naked eye - often unexpectedly beautiful parts of everyday life.
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Active Assignment Weekly:
ASSIGNMENT: A study in texture. The texture might be a macro of a leaf or of a wrinkled hand, or it might be an interesting juxtaposition of several textures such as a wooden blind over a window in a brick wall. The focus is on the 'study' aspect with attention to detail and capturing the texture(s) as if one were taking the pic from which to do a detailed drawing. But, of course, the composition is also important.

RESTRICTION: No addition or application of textures from a photo program - the textures should be inherent in the subject. Sharpening, cropping, saturation, exposure and those kind of manipulations are OK.

CHALLENGE: Make the pic b&w, or sepia, or otherwise monochromatic.