what's up?

A collaboration: M arranged the rock face and I made the photograph.  When we were in the co-op gallery in Port Angeles, it was a popular image.

paradise

Keeping with the black and white theme, here is a winter view of the iconic lodge on the slope of Mount Rainier.

These days I take only digital photos, but this image is actually from a 35mm color slide which I scanned and then adjusted for b&w.

driftwood

"Big Logs" was taken the same day I took the photo in my title banner, at Ruby Beach on the Washington coast.  In fact, I was standing on the big weathered log in the foreground of the header image.

"Beach Sentinel" is on the beach near the mouth of the Elwha River.

"Big Logs"

"Beach Sentinel"

morning in the square

Not every picture that looks good on the screen will make a good print.  This image is one of those.  Taken with a pocket camera, it is just too soft to look good blown up.  It's too bad, because I really like the composition.  I may have to do a painting of it...

jazz off the beaten track

Ok- I took these photos last June.  But I just recently got them adjusted and printed as commemorative prints for the band.  JOBT is a great group, performing occasionally here and there around Port Townsend.  Always a wonderful playlist: Thelonious Monk, Ralph Towner, Abdullah Ibrahim, Bill Evans, for example, and some of their own material- a special treat.

I like how each band member has a different color shirt: dark, like the piano, and four pastels, and they all go together.

west end fall color

We went to the west end about a month ago to see some fall color on the Hoh, Quinault, and Queets rivers.  M came back with a painting or two.  Here are a few of my photos.

"Fall on the Hoh"

"Summer Meets Fall"

"Fall Palette"

"Castle"

"Lake Quinault Evening"

fort flagler batteries

Black and White Series


More images from the old gun batteries at Fort Flagler State Park- this time in black and white.

See my post below on the Fort Worden batteries for a brief history of these massive old concrete and steel structures.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Gallery"

"Thomas Wansboro"

"Wing"

"Focus"

"Decision Point"

fort flagler batteries

Color Series


The gun batteries at Fort Flagler on Marrowstone Island, like those at Fort Worden and Fort Casey, were part of the coastal defense system built at the entrance to Admiralty Inlet in Washington State around the turn of the twentieth century.

These old structures are a treasure trove of subject material for photographs.

"Alcove"

"Red Rail"

"Descent to light"

"Ascent to light"

"Secrets"

memory's vault

These photographs of the Memory's Vault art installation at Fort Worden are also on display at Copper Canyon Press, along with the battery photographs which I posted here yesterday.

Memory's Vault is a sculpture garden located near the batteries.  My brief write-up on the Vault follows these photos, and explains its connection to the Copper Canyon Press.

My photos will be on display at the Press through December.

"Memory's Vault"

"Testament"

"The Kingdom"

"Witness"

"Chrysalis"

(this is the boulder which now resides in the

original vault once used by the Corps of Engineers)

"History Turns a Corner"

"Uh Oh"

"Throne of Victory"

Memory's Vault

Take a Poetry Hike on the Fort.

Tucked into a wooded grove atop Artillery Hill at Fort Worden is one of Washington State's public art treasures: Memory's Vault.

The sculpture garden is built on the site which housed members of the Army Corps of Engineers who were responsible for the design and construction of the batteries at Fort Worden.  The original concrete vault in which the plans for the batteries were kept has been incorporated into the art installation.  This vault and a battered concrete platform are all that remain of the original Corps of Engineers barracks.

Sculptures of concrete, bronze, steel and stone by artist Richard Turner provide a complement to the original vault, and echo the nearby battery structures.

Leading to the vault, seven concrete columns bear enameled plaques with poetry by Sam Hamill, co-founder of Copper Canyon Press, the country's premier poetry publisher.  Copper Canyon Press has operated at the Fort since 1974.

Memory's Vault was constructed in 1988.

From the Memory's Vault Title Column:

"Memory's Vault is a work of art created through the efforts of the artist, individuals and state agencies working collectively to mark in a new way an important place in Washington's history.  It is a place for contemplation- of nature, of man and his intentions at Fort Worden."

Sources: Ann Katzenbach, Yvonne Pepin, Bob Francis

the batteries at fort worden

This show of 12 photographs is currently on display at Copper Canyon Press at Fort Worden State Park, near Port Townsend, WA.  The photos mostly feature architectural details of the nearby batteries.  All images are just under 12"x18", matted and framed to 20"x26".

"Ascent"

"Battery Stories"

"Blue Door"

"Column"

"Door to the Past"

"Gateway"

"Interior"

"Latch"

"Number One"

"Recesses"

"Rings"

"The Way Out"

Here is the write-up I did on the history of the batteries to accompany the show:

The Batteries at Fort Worden

The Batteries at Fort Worden, along with those at Fort Flagler and Fort Casey, were built at the entrance to Admiralty Inlet in the 1890s  to prevent a hostile fleet from entering Puget Sound.   Construction on Fort Worden began in 1897.  It took 200 men almost three years to complete the excavation and concrete work for the initial gun emplacements.  The first huge guns were installed in 1901.  The fort was activated in 1902, and by the fall of 1905 it was fully staffed with four Coast Artillery companies, and was also the headquarters of the Harbor Defense Command.  By 1910, the fort had a total of 41 artillery pieces, including twenty 12-inch guns.

The big guns were tested but never fired at an enemy.  Most were removed during World War I for use in Europe. During this time, however, the complement at Fort Worden expanded significantly as soldiers arrived for training.  Construction of barracks and other buildings continued throughout the war.

In the 1920s, a balloon hangar was added to the fort.  During World War II, most of the gun emplacements were modified for anti-aircraft guns, which replaced the outdated coastal artillery pieces.

After World War II, the gun batteries were dismantled, but the fort remained active as an administrative base until it officially closed in 1953, ending fifty-one years of military operations.

The massive battery structures remain as a silent testament to defense endeavors from a bygone era.

Source: Wikipedia.org