A Photo Walking Tour of Boston's Back Bay

As we crossed the street into Boston's Copley Place, I spotted Saba, proprietress and tour leader for Boston's PhotoWalks, standing beside Science along with two other participants in today's photo walking tour of the Back Bay neighborhood.

Such was our delight at the historical facts and better photography tips we learned during yesterday's Beacon Hill walking tour that we mustered the enthusiasm to embark on another photo walk, despite today's frigid temps and howling winds. Disconcertingly enough, the staff at our hotel shrugged off the abysmal weather as being "normal" for this time of year. Oh well, we decided to just pile on the layers and soldier on.

After exchanging introductions with the two women who braved the conditions, Saba started off the photo walking tour by telling us about the two statues guarding the entrance to Boston's public library - Science (the appointed meeting spot) and Art. Again, she demonstrated various creative ways of composing our photos and suggested different angles to shoot them from. One of my favorite pics is the one above - taken behind the statue of Science facing out to Copley Square, with the John Hancock tower in the background.

We crossed over to Copley Square for photos of John Copley's statue, Trinity Church's reflection on the John Hancock tower, and a few from inside the church which provided a brief refuge from the cold. Afterwards, though a bit reluctant to leave the warm surroundings, it was time for more photos!

A short walk led us to the heart of the Back Bay neighborhood, Commonwealth Avenue, with its numerous statues situated on the grassy mall bisecting the wide boulevard. I couldn't help but notice the contrast between the two neighborhoods that we took photo walking tours in - the narrow, cobblestone, gas-lit bucolic alleys of Beacon Hill versus the wide streets of Back Bay lined with numerous upscale restaurants and shops - a rough comparison in New York City would be the West Village vs. the Upper East Side, I thought.

Easily my favorite set of statues were the bronze trio which composed the Boston Women's Memorial, all of whom were known for their writing (among other things, of course). They provided excellent opportunities for some extreme close up pictures (including a quill pen and hair bun) that Saba suggested which turned out quite well and are included in the complete set of photos here.



After the walking tour finished, we strolled over to the nearby Christian Science center to view its massive reflecting pool. Unfortunately, the pool turned out to be emptied of its contents during the winter months, so instead we just took photos of the surrounding Prudential Tower complex. As we passed a nearby solar powered garbage compactor, I noticed the solar panels atop the brown receptacle and my newly-developed instinct for sniffing out unique photo angles kicked in and voila! - a magnificent shot of the towers' reflection, wouldn't you say?

Check out the complete photo album from the Back Bay photo walk.

More posts from Boston here.