East St Louis Toodle-Oo

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A previous job used to require me to travel to St. Louis. I had been intrigued by some of the nice nighttime skyline shots of St. Louis I’d seen and on one trip I set out to do my version of the St. Louis skyline.

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In order to achieve this shot, I knew I would have to make my way to the east side of the Mississippi River to East St. Louis, Illinois...a place I’d heard isn’t the safest place at night. And when do you think I was planning on going to get the nighttime skyline shot that I had in mind? It seems the riverfront property on the east side is owned by a local casino, the Casino Queen, and the local railroads. Being proactive, I called the casino’s security office and asked permission for my photo op. I was told, “No problem, have fun!” The night came for my adventure, off I went with backpack and tripod in hand. I’m walking towards the sea wall, past the “No Trespassing” signs, and just as I’m about to go thru the sea wall towards the water’s edge a white van pulls up with a couple of security guards. For some reason, they were curious about what I was doing and they asked if I didn’t understand the meaning of the No Trespassing signs! I informed them of my intent and that I’d been told by the casino’s security it was “ok!” The guards seemed to enjoy my story and then told me one of their own. To sum it up, they said if I didn’t leave I’d be arrested for trespassing! Given those options, I left...very disappointed. The next day, I was downtown St. Louis and I decided to try a different approach to shooting the Arch. I used my wide angle lens and positioned myself as close as I could get to the corner edge of the arch and still be able to get the entire arch in the shot.  I came away with this “different” perspective of a national landmark. But, I hadn’t given up on my original quest for a skyline shot.

Before my next trip to St. Louis (about a year later), I called the Casino Queen security office and asked for a supervisor. I was going to plead my case hard and request written permission to do the photography I wanted to do.  The person on the other end of the phone listened to my plea for consideration and then said, “You don’t need any permission, why don’t you just go to the new park...it has an observation deck that’s perfect for what you want!” At first I didn’t believe what I’d been told but after a little internet research I realized she was telling me the truth.

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When I arrived, I couldn’t wait to make the trek to the Malcom W. Martin Memorial Park to see for myself. Sure enough, there was the St. Louis skyline right in front of me, as if it was handed to me on a platter. There was only one little “gotcha,” which I’m sure the city of East St. Louis did just to frustrate photographers like me…power lines, power lines, and more power lines running thru the skyline with no way to avoid them! Fortunately, I was able to remove the power lines in Photoshop and I finally had my St. Louis skyline shot. In the end, something I tried so hard to get was just served up to me. It was actually kind of unfulfilling after putting forth so much effort.

The next time you're traveling along Interstate 64 and you see the Arch, take a moment to reflect on its significance. It represents where Lewis and Clark began their journey which became instrumental in the westward expansion movement in the U.S. Enjoy being in the heartland of America!