![\"Heart](\"https:\/\/markgunterphotography.com\/abo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Oklahoma-City-4122-720x480.jpg\")
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This is not the Oklahoma City with which I grew up. I remember some of the major buildings from my earliest days. They are still prominent in the skyline although the streets below have changed. To be honest, I do not recall many trips into the downtown area as a child. The old structures were monuments on the horizon. These were simply landmarks we drove past. They were mysterious and formidable icons that roused my curiosity.<\/p>\n
Living mostly in the surrounding, rural areas, the heart of Oklahoma City was always that distant place. We would flirt with the outskirts, perhaps visiting a suburban grocery store or mall. The maze of one-way streets, largely abandoned at night, remained largely a mystery until my college days. Even then, I was a foreigner in a strange, concrete land. While I became more familiar, it was not a place I cared to visit unless I felt adventurous. The “big city” felt dangerous, especially after dark.<\/p>\n
Anyone who knows the Oklahoma City of twenty years ago or more most likely gets it. It seems that it was not so long ago that a lone person wandering the city streets was not a great idea. Especially in the dark. Especially carrying expensive camera equipment. Oklahoma City fell well short of being Gotham, but it was certainly not a place to visit in the night without being alert.<\/p>\n
These days, I work right on the edge of the domain of those iconic landmarks. I see the towers daily. It is not uncommon to find me exploring parts of the downtown area. I am occasionally found roaming these streets, especially at night, camera in hand. Today, those mysterious and formidable structures are this photographer’s “x” on the treasure map.<\/p>\n
This city has undergone a tremendous transformation in recent decades. It keeps finding ways to remind me that this is my home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is not the Oklahoma City with which I grew up. I remember some of the major buildings from my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oklahoma","wpcat-15-id"],"yoast_head":"\n