Ronny Salerno 3/29/12 Ronny Salerno 3/29/12

The Dayton Executive Hotel

I don't know if you could call these lobby stairs grand, but just like the "Grand Staircase" on Titanic, this one is also covered in water. It's hardly a welcoming site for guests at the lobby check-in, but any guests the Dayton Executive Hotel sees these days aren't of the "normal" variety.

Ronny Salerno 3/26/12 Ronny Salerno 3/26/12

Ode to the "A#1 Corolla Rager"

When I was 16, I totaled the first car I ever had - a 1996 Mazda Protege. After months of mastering how to drive a stick, I had my first "real" job and my own car. I turned left when I didn't have an arrow and thought I did. The car was toast, but thankfully everyone was alright (although I'm sure the people I hit are still telling their friends and relatives about that jackass who totaled their car by the Applebee's in Fairfield back in 2005). By the end of the summer I was fortunate enough to have a "new" car, a 2000 Toyota Corolla.

Ronny Salerno 3/23/12 Ronny Salerno 3/23/12

[Views of Cincinnati] Left Behind at the Landing

I had been planning to shoot from the river overlook off Madison Ave. at night, but figured I'd walk down that way anyways. A touristy spot, it had the usual nice weather crowd of onlookers out there while an employee of the nearby hotel enjoyed his cigarette. I walked around for a bit, thinking of shots for the future of the project while trying to avoid the goose shit on the ground. I had been here plenty of times, but never noticed the path on the left where I would find the rusted mooring cable that frames the above photograph.

Ronny Salerno 3/22/12 Ronny Salerno 3/22/12

[Views of Cincinnati] Directly South, Pointing East

A view from atop the Covington Transit Center parking garage that appears directly South of the Carew and 4th and Vine buildings. Normally views from Kentucky feature the river in the foreground. Not here. The river is replaced by the concrete wall and its piping, the rusted copper of the lightning rods has begun to leave green stains on top of the wall and the markings on the ground point Eastward.

Ronny Salerno 3/20/12 Ronny Salerno 3/20/12

[Views of Cincinnati] Elevator Glass

The Big Red Machine used to play nearby, their stadium gone. In its place: new development - a resurgence of the riverfront, an extension of the city. It all looks up to the line of skyscrapers that cut into the sky along with the clouds and contrails of airplanes. The riverfront uprising offers its own jagged edge in the form of glass.

Ronny Salerno 3/20/12 Ronny Salerno 3/20/12

[Views of Cincinnati] "Closed Mouths Don't Get Fed On This Boulevard"

It's a toss up as to how I title photos. Sometimes the title is inspired by a song I'm listening to, other times it comes from some clever allusion to a vague reference, how I would name a particular chapter in a book of my life or how I'm feeling at that moment. Often, I'm at a loss and have to think about it for awhile. That afternoon, as I framed up the rooftops of the buildings along West 9th St. along with the Carew Tower, a passerby unknowingly titled the photo for me.

Ronny Salerno 3/13/12 Ronny Salerno 3/13/12

[Views of Cincinnati] Forms and Structure

The skyline is the reality, the reminder. The sight of it breaks the illusion of the hilltop neighborhood being its own European village. The neighborhood is part of something greater, an integral part of the city. Just as one photograph can be part of a series created for a greater purpose.

Down a side street - the chaotically crossing power lines of an urban framework [forms] and the structured network of a skyscraper's crown [structure] silhouetted against the sky.

Ronny Salerno 3/12/12 Ronny Salerno 3/12/12

[Views of Cincinnati] The American West of Mt. Adams

The road is worn, a beaten and well traveled path. The afternoon sun is glaring down on it and despite the positive emotion of the blue sky ahead, an ominous structure appears on the horizon.

Ronny Salerno 3/8/12 Ronny Salerno 3/8/12

[Views of Cincinnati] Nineteen Eighty8

Cincinnati is named after the Roman hero Cincinnatus. Just as Rome is surrounded by seven hills, so is Cincinnati.

Ronny Salerno 3/6/12 Ronny Salerno 3/6/12

Breweries Beneath the City Streets

There's no doubt that the city of Cincinnati has a rich and colorful history. The Federal government almost moved the capital here once, we're home to the first professional baseball team, Jerry Springer was once our mayor and the list could go on and on. One aspect of local culture and history that most seem to overlook though is beer!

Ronny Salerno 2/28/12 Ronny Salerno 2/28/12

From the Ruins of the Kingdom, the Boardwalk Rises?

Kentucky Kingdom, better known for the majority of its life as "Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom," hasn't had many guests since it closed its doors in the fall of 2009. Last summer though, I was one of the park's few visitors during its second season of non-operation. Accompanied by my guide Rose, a former park employee who was now working for the group aiming to reopen the park, I got to walk along the midways and tour the rides with the permission of the Kentucky Kingdom Redevelopment Company (KKRC).

Ronny Salerno 2/23/12 Ronny Salerno 2/23/12

Kings Island - August, 1974

I borrowed the following photos from my girlfriend's father who took these during a trip to the park in the summer of 1974. At the time, Kings Island was in its third season after relocating from Coney Island. The Brady Bunch had filmed an episode there the summer before, the Partridge Family the summer before that. The photos show a different time at Kings Island, 38 years in the past. Aside from the 70's nostalgia of the "snapshot" envelope they came in with the film negatives included, they show a Kings Island much different from the one today.

Ronny Salerno 2/23/12 Ronny Salerno 2/23/12

[Views of Cincinnati] A Crossing in the Commonwealth

My friend Jake and I were once talking about the Brent Spence Bridge. I remarked to him that it looked "awful." It looks rusty and worn in comparison to the bright colors of the Roebling, Big Mac and People bridges. He said that he liked its appearance, that it made Cincinnati look "tough." In a way he was right. While out pursuing a different angle for 224 Cincy, Ryan Texas Ranger and I came across some infrastructure hidden on a hillside in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, a crossing that looked "tough.”

Ronny Salerno 2/21/12 Ronny Salerno 2/21/12

[Views of Cincinnati] Wrought Iron Sunrise

It's not that I haven't seen or photographed or a sunrise before, it's just that I've never done one around downtown or of the skyline. If I'm ever awake and the sun's coming up, it's usually because I haven't been to sleep yet either due to alcohol or homework.

Ronny Salerno 2/16/12 Ronny Salerno 2/16/12

[Views of Cincinnati] Postcard Town

What is a "postcard town?" If you Google the phrase, it's apparently the name of a bunch of really bad indie acoustic songs on YouTube. The term is typically used to describe a town that appears so perfect, it belongs on a postcard. Personally, the first time I heard the phrase was in the 2001 David Spade B-Movie: "Joe Dirt.”

Ronny Salerno 2/12/12 Ronny Salerno 2/12/12

[Views of Cincinnati] For Doug

I'm not even sure how to begin describing this photograph. A longer explanation follows, but I don't know where to begin. This photograph is for Doug. With his funeral approaching, it was my personal way of remembering him.

Ronny Salerno 2/1/12 Ronny Salerno 2/1/12

[Views of Cincinnati] Midwestern Fog

It seemed like a scene that would be more commonplace on the lakefront of Chicago or near the bay in San Francisco. In fact, that's what the gentleman who passed me on the street remarked: "I used to live in San Francisco, man and I haven't seen anything like this here!”

Ronny Salerno 1/29/12 Ronny Salerno 1/29/12

Nuclear Cowboyz and Nuclear Stripperz

The word "nuclear" has powerful meaning. From the Cold War days when atomic weapons threatened the annihilation of our planet, to creating energy in power plants at places like Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, to the time when President George W. Bush mispronounced the word. Then you have the word "cowboy." Cowboy evokes the image of reckless, rowdy Hollywood heroes like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. Want to make it more extreme? Throw proper spelling and grammar to the wind and add a "z" on the end. Combine the title with pyrotechnics, an arena from the mid 70's and some motorcycles - what do you get? "The Nuclear Cowboyz.”

Ronny Salerno 1/20/12 Ronny Salerno 1/20/12

Who Was That Masked Man Anyways?

Any good story has a good beginning, an intro that hooks the reader. As I write this on the border of 3 A.M, I don't really have a "hook." I don't really have an angle. When I looked through the batch of photos I was about to post here, I realized that they made no cohesive sense.

Ronny Salerno 9/30/11 Ronny Salerno 9/30/11

How an Abandoned Zoo Made it to the Silver Screen

On October 7, "Real Steel" will hit theaters. Set in the "near future," the film stars that guy who played "Wolverine" in X-Men as a former boxer who now plays major league Rock'em Sock'em Robots in Detroit. That's what I gathered from the trailer and Wikipedia anyways.