in 1995 my assignment in architecture: the rice hotel.  i had always been warm towards it and wanted to get to know it better than just riding by on my bike down main street.

at that time downtown houston was very stagnant so there were many times i set my 4x5 camera on a tripod in main street for long exposures without the worry of cars on the weekend.  the hotel is now surrounded by other tall buildings.  from the postcard shown on the right you can see how tricky it is to get away from the building across the street.  my professor at the time said i must have a final photo without the imposing building.  so each sunday morning i tried, i rented fancy lenses and ended up pressed against a fast food restaurant's front window to get the final shot. 

i am lucky though, if not for his near impossible assignment, i wouldn't have been there so often. the nearby inhabitants (some from the hotel) got to know me and asked if i'd bring donuts, so i usually did.  two in particular brought little items from inside the hotel and charged me a dollar and sometimes just more donuts.