STEVEN R. TABOR
  • Home
  • Environmental Portraiture
  • Conceptual Photography
  • Projection Portraiture
  • Art Nude
  • Songs
  • Project Listing
    • Petanque
    • Les Joutes
    • Joy
    • We live here
    • Photos of others
    • Jazz now
    • Dancing the night away
    • Kampung
    • On Safari
    • 3 October
    • Fun Swim Run
    • Forbidden Pleasures
    • Garden variety
    • Outsiders Painting Large
    • Streetvew Weddings
    • Hanging out
    • Marching to prosperity
    • I was there
    • Groovin
    • Pokémon GO
    • Fooled me
    • Markets
    • In the bathroom
    • I am Sri Lankan
    • The haunting of Rogers Forge
    • My early years
    • Conflict
    • Let their voices be heard
    • Pure light abstracted
    • Chap Go Mei Zumba
    • Wild Tales of Serendib
    • HONfest
    • Homage to the Anatomy Lesson
    • Celebrating Rembrandt
    • Pride
    • Painting bodies
    • Landings
    • Mia
    • Less is More
    • Inked
    • Noir et Blanc en Couleur
    • Girl and a cane
    • Poses
    • The bird people
    • Send in the Clowns
    • Picture Frames for People
    • Hold the Line
    • The Waking Hours Before Dawn
    • Bathing
    • 'Scapes
    • Ode to the Vegans
    • M in the House
    • Sofa Sofa
    • Big Fish
    • Lekker Lezen
    • Hands Off
    • Guitar Muse
    • Tulip Twins
    • Reflections
    • Bars
    • Bear Necessities
    • Sanity
    • Corona Spring
    • The Long Kiss Goodbye
    • Anahí: In the Wind
    • Sunset Beach
    • Projections
    • Anahí: Recumbent
    • Projections Volume 2
    • Projecting Malevich
    • Projecting Escher
    • Projecting Skin Deep
    • Projecting Léger, Miró & Pollock
    • Projecting Decorations
    • Projecting Mondrian
    • Projecting Mandala
    • Projecting Illusions
    • Projecting Words and Bodies
    • Projecting Kandinsky and Rothko
    • Projecting Mondrian on Zoi
    • Projecting Real People
    • Endurance
    • Unsuitable
    • Stairs
    • Veiled
    • Veiled II
    • Fall Colors
    • Pulp Fictioned
    • Lakeside
    • Creation
    • Bed, Boots & Bath
    • Mask in the Mirror
    • Relaxing
    • Freestyle
    • Natural Light Portraits
    • Showerscapes
    • Unwrapped
    • Mirror, Mirror
    • Pieces
    • Projecting Nature
    • Projecting Origami
    • O'Keeffe Reimagined
    • The Rolling Stones' Tongue
    • Repetition
    • Minding the Store
    • Lovebirds
    • Greece 1973
    • Bouzigues Remembered
    • Murals
    • Blond on Blond
    • Splatter
    • Hot & Cold
    • Stay-at-Home
    • That Scene
    • Dafne in the Mirror
    • Dafne on the Vine
    • Outtakes
    • Headshots
    • 3-6-9
    • Underground
    • Wild Thing
    • Eye of the Beholder
    • Tulip Arrangements
    • Projecting Kate Ri
    • Expressions
    • Ghosts
    • Carrot-top
    • Camouflage
    • Digital Waves
    • The English Sailor
    • Windy Beach Night
    • Quiet Hours
    • Cloud Illusions
    • Big Fish Selfies
    • Dreamcards
    • After
    • Burlesque
    • Unmute Us
    • Natural Beauties
    • Backlit
    • Ankie
    • Joiners
    • Projecting Van Gogh
    • Covering up
    • Lines and Curves
    • Lobster Time
    • Home Decorations
    • Clawin' to the Top
    • A Helping Hand
    • Fireworks
    • Lockdown
    • Meshed Up
    • Cheaper by the Dozen
    • Dubai Colorscrapers
    • Dubai Colorscrapers
    • Sparkle
    • Parking Lot
    • Lounging
    • Me and Me
    • Projecting Impressionism
    • Projecting Dubuffet
    • Portraits of Manya
    • Amsterdam in 2 Minutes
    • Trio
    • Ankie Doubled
    • Ankie B&W&R
    • Projecting Shunga
    • Portraits in Ten
    • Chained
    • The Bollenstreek Flower Parade
    • The Muse
    • Jumpin' at the Lido
    • Sliced
    • Horror Story
    • Nadia
    • Highlights
    • Baking
    • Life Is
    • Both Sides Now
    • Is There Anybody Here
    • Amie
    • Rock N Roll Nigger
    • Tight Rope
    • Big Yellow Taxi
    • Graceland
    • Racetrack in France
    • Bloody Motherfucking Asshole
    • Naima
    • Found Me Somebody
    • Angel from Montgomery
    • Moondance
    • Sammy's Song
    • Into the Mystic
    • Bertha
    • Baltimore
    • No Other Love
    • Cantaloupe Island
    • You Can Leave Your Hat On
    • Don't Smoke in Bed
  • Stories
  • Contact

Big Yellow Taxi

Big Yellow Taxi was written by Joni Mitchell and released on her Ladies of the Canyon album in 1970. Listening to Joni Mitchell since this song as a teenager, I was immediately convinced that there was something paradise-like about nature, and that converting nature to parking lots was a bad idea. Later in the life, I heard Joni Mitchell's lyrics swirling through my head as I worked in one rapidly urbanizing country after another, and saw gorgeous tropical countryside get swallowed up for cities which, more often than not, were overcrowded, polluted, congested and filled with massive amounts of concrete. In my home country, the USA, there were occasional attempts to construct buildings that fit into the natural environment--the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright come to mind--but for every eco-friendly property, there are hundreds of garish strip malls with their fluorescent lights and garish displays. From the song Big Yellow Taxi, I took away the sense that nature deserved to be protected, not because we make use of it, but simply because nature is beautiful, and much of what man has built in its place is surely not.

Having said that, I am much more of a city-person than a nature person, and what I generally photograph reflects that. My son argues that the more someone appreciates something, the more likely they are to make good photographs of it. Since my understanding and appreciation of nature is limited at best, I've included an assortment of nature photos from different parts of the world. These are followed by a small set of examples of what happens when "paradise gets paved, and they put up a parking lot."

If you'd like to see the full series, download the PDF catalog here.  
                                                              

Next series
  • Home
  • Environmental Portraiture
  • Conceptual Photography
  • Projection Portraiture
  • Art Nude
  • Songs
  • Project Listing
    • Petanque
    • Les Joutes
    • Joy
    • We live here
    • Photos of others
    • Jazz now
    • Dancing the night away
    • Kampung
    • On Safari
    • 3 October
    • Fun Swim Run
    • Forbidden Pleasures
    • Garden variety
    • Outsiders Painting Large
    • Streetvew Weddings
    • Hanging out
    • Marching to prosperity
    • I was there
    • Groovin
    • Pokémon GO
    • Fooled me
    • Markets
    • In the bathroom
    • I am Sri Lankan
    • The haunting of Rogers Forge
    • My early years
    • Conflict
    • Let their voices be heard
    • Pure light abstracted
    • Chap Go Mei Zumba
    • Wild Tales of Serendib
    • HONfest
    • Homage to the Anatomy Lesson
    • Celebrating Rembrandt
    • Pride
    • Painting bodies
    • Landings
    • Mia
    • Less is More
    • Inked
    • Noir et Blanc en Couleur
    • Girl and a cane
    • Poses
    • The bird people
    • Send in the Clowns
    • Picture Frames for People
    • Hold the Line
    • The Waking Hours Before Dawn
    • Bathing
    • 'Scapes
    • Ode to the Vegans
    • M in the House
    • Sofa Sofa
    • Big Fish
    • Lekker Lezen
    • Hands Off
    • Guitar Muse
    • Tulip Twins
    • Reflections
    • Bars
    • Bear Necessities
    • Sanity
    • Corona Spring
    • The Long Kiss Goodbye
    • Anahí: In the Wind
    • Sunset Beach
    • Projections
    • Anahí: Recumbent
    • Projections Volume 2
    • Projecting Malevich
    • Projecting Escher
    • Projecting Skin Deep
    • Projecting Léger, Miró & Pollock
    • Projecting Decorations
    • Projecting Mondrian
    • Projecting Mandala
    • Projecting Illusions
    • Projecting Words and Bodies
    • Projecting Kandinsky and Rothko
    • Projecting Mondrian on Zoi
    • Projecting Real People
    • Endurance
    • Unsuitable
    • Stairs
    • Veiled
    • Veiled II
    • Fall Colors
    • Pulp Fictioned
    • Lakeside
    • Creation
    • Bed, Boots & Bath
    • Mask in the Mirror
    • Relaxing
    • Freestyle
    • Natural Light Portraits
    • Showerscapes
    • Unwrapped
    • Mirror, Mirror
    • Pieces
    • Projecting Nature
    • Projecting Origami
    • O'Keeffe Reimagined
    • The Rolling Stones' Tongue
    • Repetition
    • Minding the Store
    • Lovebirds
    • Greece 1973
    • Bouzigues Remembered
    • Murals
    • Blond on Blond
    • Splatter
    • Hot & Cold
    • Stay-at-Home
    • That Scene
    • Dafne in the Mirror
    • Dafne on the Vine
    • Outtakes
    • Headshots
    • 3-6-9
    • Underground
    • Wild Thing
    • Eye of the Beholder
    • Tulip Arrangements
    • Projecting Kate Ri
    • Expressions
    • Ghosts
    • Carrot-top
    • Camouflage
    • Digital Waves
    • The English Sailor
    • Windy Beach Night
    • Quiet Hours
    • Cloud Illusions
    • Big Fish Selfies
    • Dreamcards
    • After
    • Burlesque
    • Unmute Us
    • Natural Beauties
    • Backlit
    • Ankie
    • Joiners
    • Projecting Van Gogh
    • Covering up
    • Lines and Curves
    • Lobster Time
    • Home Decorations
    • Clawin' to the Top
    • A Helping Hand
    • Fireworks
    • Lockdown
    • Meshed Up
    • Cheaper by the Dozen
    • Dubai Colorscrapers
    • Dubai Colorscrapers
    • Sparkle
    • Parking Lot
    • Lounging
    • Me and Me
    • Projecting Impressionism
    • Projecting Dubuffet
    • Portraits of Manya
    • Amsterdam in 2 Minutes
    • Trio
    • Ankie Doubled
    • Ankie B&W&R
    • Projecting Shunga
    • Portraits in Ten
    • Chained
    • The Bollenstreek Flower Parade
    • The Muse
    • Jumpin' at the Lido
    • Sliced
    • Horror Story
    • Nadia
    • Highlights
    • Baking
    • Life Is
    • Both Sides Now
    • Is There Anybody Here
    • Amie
    • Rock N Roll Nigger
    • Tight Rope
    • Big Yellow Taxi
    • Graceland
    • Racetrack in France
    • Bloody Motherfucking Asshole
    • Naima
    • Found Me Somebody
    • Angel from Montgomery
    • Moondance
    • Sammy's Song
    • Into the Mystic
    • Bertha
    • Baltimore
    • No Other Love
    • Cantaloupe Island
    • You Can Leave Your Hat On
    • Don't Smoke in Bed
  • Stories
  • Contact