Documentary Photography

The Sistine Chapel of Native American art on the Columbia River Gorge
A cultural Interpreter leads a tour in early April. The rock painting is in the upper left hand corner of the photograph. You can barely see it–it is a figure in white.

Native Americans, according to archaeology records, lived continuously on the banks of the Columbia River for more than 12,000 years prior to their near demise due to new diseases and the arrival of white settlers in the 1800s. Their culture thrived because of trade among tribes and the stable supply of one of the world’s most nutritious natural food sources: migrating salmon and other fish species in the Columbia River.

The many generations of Native inhabitants also left behind a legacy of artwork, in the form of petroglyphs (rock carvings) and pictographs (paintings). The latter were mostly with white paints, derived from bones, and red paints, derived from blood. The age of these pieces of art are not fully known. They can be found in the region roughly east of Hood River and eastward for the next 40 or so miles. The residents who lived here at the time Lewis and Clark made their journey in the early 1800s on the river were known as the Wishram people.

Sadly, most of the art, the paintings and rock carvings, were flooded when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built dams on the Columbia, flooding historic village sites that had been settled since well before the rise of ancient Rome. A number of rock art carvings were salvaged and then reassembled in 2004 for public display at Columbia Hills State Park, in Washington state, near The Dalles, Oregon. The location of the art today was once the site of a thriving Native settlement. Today, the Yakama, Umatilla, and Warm Springs bands hold ceremonies here by their ancestors’ art, which was once on their ancestors’ land.

There is no written record describing the purpose of the art. Current theories suggest the artwork provide guideposts for dream quests, connecting the people to the spirit world. Other pictures also depict elements of folk myth, the most famous painting of all, “Tsagaglalal” or She Who Watches, derived from a story about coyote and clan matriarch who was cast into the rock and stood watch over her people. (The painting is now used as the logo for the Columbia River Interpretive Center.) This is considered one of the finest examples of Native American art in all of North America.

The petroglyphs today are accessible to all for the price of admission to the state park. To see the rock art paintings in an area with limited viewing, you need to call the park in advance and sign up for a guided interpretive tour, led by a park cultural interpreter or a Native American guide. This was one of the highlights of my regional outings in the Pacific Northwest.

I would recommend this trip to anyone, of any age. You find yourself in one of the most scenic areas in North America, standing on land where countless generations stood before you.

You can see some photos of this area and its former Native inhabitants in the collection of Edward Curtis, famed photodocumentarian of Native American people (including staged photos). His work is archived on a superb Smithsonian photo media archive. Look for pictures marked “Wishham” (note spelling differences from above).

Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.

Jerusalem, winter morning’s light

This is one of my favorite places in the world. Despite the divisions that crash together among the believers of monotheistic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), I felt something special here. Somehow the prejudices I saw and felt in and around Jersusalem were overcome by the feeling of the place. It’s Holy week for Christians, so I decided to did this one out of my old archive. This dates from 2004. You can see more pictures of Israel and the Occupied West Bank on my web site. (Click on the photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

On a Sunday morning sidewalk

While strolling through downtown Portland this Sunday, March 22, I pulled out my GoPro and snapped a few photos of some of the lovely old stone churches. There are quite a few, and they give downtown a stately charm. Seen here are the exterior and front of the First Baptist Church, which dates from 1894, and the First Unitarian Church of Portland, which celebrates its 150th year this June.

The First Baptist Church rents its sanctuary space to rock ‘n’ roll Christians in the afternoon under the banner of Bridgetown, “A Jesus Church,” which has an electric rock band that was warming up when I dropped by. I stepped inside to see the First Baptist sanctuary, and I liked its circular layout and stained glass, similar to the Baptist church in Seattle, also of the same era. These are Northwest Baptists, so I assume a bit more laid back than their Southern brethren. I have always loved stained glass. It is a great art form, as is stone masonry.

(For the record, I did not have beer for breakfast, smell fried chicken, or have a religious experience like Kris Kristopherson and Johnny Cash.)

Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.

Pretty Portland, without the grit and the grime
The view is from the Eastbank Esplanade.
Another view of the South Waterfront development.
This photo was taken near the waterfront.

Every single city in the world, and country for that matter, would prefer to present a postcard image of itself to the world. Portland’s emerging brand is one of “smart development,” urban villages, greater density, and urban beauty. These are descriptors I grabbed from the cultural ecosystem. Other observers may have alternative brand labels.

I took these photos over the past few days. South Waterfront is a development on former brownfields industrial land that once was used to build ships. The tram that connects to OHSU and a streetcar are some of the high-cost infrastructure projects that support this high-end neighborhood. It also has been the subject of attacks for being a tax giveaway to developers and for nearly going belly-up during the Great Recession. Condos had to be converted to apartments as a result of the tanking real-estate market that defined the bubble that burst.

I snapped the downtown Portland photo from the Eastbank Esplanade of the lovely cherry trees in full bloom and the city in the background. It is the type of image we see in Portlandia, on postcards, and in stock images that sell the city to the world. We are not showing the four or five tent camps I passed on my bike route that took me to the vantage points where I took these pictures. You can read more about that on some of my other blog posts.

St. John’s Bridge, Portland
I took this shot during a nice bike ride I took on the north side of Portland this week.

The St. John’s Bridge, in North Portland, is bike friendly and outstanding for views of Portland and the Willamette River. There are a lot of fabulous rides that can include a trip over the bridge. The views are always worth it.

Winter’s long shadows on the campus of Reed College
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.

I love the long shadows cast by late afternoons on a winter’s day. Late yesterday afternoon, I realized the conditions were near optimal on a clear day in Portland. I visited the campus of Reed College, a private liberal arts school that now costs about $60,000 for tuition and room and board.  The school has three landmark buildings that utilize Tudor Gothic style: the old dorm block, Eliot Hall, and the old library building. All make for excellent photo props in every season. Despite the exorbitant costs to attend the four-year college, the campus is beautiful, located next to a wildlife refuge that is the source for Crystal Springs. The campus’ orientation is mostly east and west, so the sun will hit most buildings at an angle, creating the aforementioned shadows, except the library which faces west. Right after the simple shoot with my trusty GoPro camera, I headed to my ultimate destination, the Gigantic Brewing Co., co-founded by one Reed grad and former musician. I always like to support home-grown suds businesses, especially a creative one from a fellow alum.

The Brooklyn intermodal rail yard, still chugging and causing a fuss

For more than a year in my 20s, I lived within a half mile of this large track of industrial land in southeast Portland, now run by the Union Pacific Corp. The yard itself dates to 1860s, and today serves as a Union Pacific transfer point, where cargo is either moved from rail cars to trucks for local distribution or vice versa to the rail system.

A huge fight broke out in the 1950s between the rail yard owners and neighbors in the Eastmoreland and Sellwood-Westmoreland neighborhoods. A more than five-decades long injunction limiting some rail yard activity was lifted in 2012, and the Union Pacific moved forward with a planned upgrade worth $75 million. However, pollution by the yard is being monitored with the help from nearby Reed College. In 2014, the head of the Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association bought a drone to monitor activity at the yard. The association represents the upscale subdivision in southeast Portland that is next to the rail yard. I guess it remains, trust but verify in my part of this city. Seriously, a neighborhood association is now using a drone to promote its interests against a major U.S. corporation.

Art and the loss of human heritage

 

From the St. Louis Art Museum collection.
A Buddha head from contemporary Afghanistan dating to the 4th century, mixing Greek, Chinese and central Asian traditions.

In the last 30 years, several countries whose current dominant religion (Islam) considers artistic representations of the human form as idolatrous, have seen the destruction of some of humanity’s great artistic and cultural heritage. Those countries include Afghanistan, where cliff-size statues of Buddha at Bamiyan were dynamited in 2001 by the Taliban, and Syria, where the Baathist regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad has outright plundered and looted the great Roman ruins of Palmyra. Both places have been ravaged by civil war, invasions, and religious intolerance. Even before these attacks by religious fanatics and criminals on monuments to cultural melting pots that were ancient Syria and what is now Afghanistan, art from these areas has been plundered and sold.

The St. Louis Art Museum, a great institution that I love dearly, has two examples of art from these locations. They include a funerary bust in the Roman Palmyriene style and the head of a Buddha that mixes Greek-Hellenic features with Chinese traditions, which dates from the 4th century of contemporary Afghanistan, from the ancient Gandhara region. I have no idea how these two pieces ever entered the art market, but many pieces like them have flooded into the global art market because of civil conflict and violence in both countries, where proxy wars, terrorism, religious intolerance, and intolerance have prevailed. Our sense of who we are has been lessened and ultimately chipped away by the destruction of such places.

Grain Silos, Lincoln County, Washington
The sun was setting as I snapped this photograph in August 2014.

It was a hot August day when I snapped this picture as the sun was setting on wheat country in Lincoln County, Washington. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful place indeed.

Ross Island Bridge, Portland

 

Taken with a GoPro.

I cross over the Ross Island Bridge every day going to work. Here is an angle from below, taken from the Springwater Corridor. (Click on the photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)