Portland

Portland’s Irvington District: historic and very, very well off
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.

Portland, Ore., has many beautiful homes and meticulously planned neighborhoods dating from the first half of the 20th century. The Irvington District, in northeast Portland, is a textbook study of this era, and many homes here are on the National Historic Registry. Many of these homes are along Knott Street. I took these with a GoPro, and I may publish more versions of these photos, taken with my Nikon, later. This is the Portland that did not hit rock bottom during the Great Recession and where children are all but certainly performing well-above average. On a fall day, it is a beautiful place to take a stroll. (Click on each photograph to see a larger photograph on a separate picture page.)

Portland’s Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral is a beautiful religious building and complex, in Portland’s Northwest neighborhood. The building was built in the first decade of the 1900s in Gothic revival style. Its closest neighbor is Temple Beth Israel, and together they make a dyanamic duo of traditional design to express religious conviction. Trinity also reminds me of many similar Episcobal and Presbyterian churches I have always loved in St. Louis, where I grew up. If you’re in Portland, take a quick visit to the cathedral at 19th Avenue NW and Everett Street. (Click on each picture to see a larger photo on a separate photo page.)

Temple Beth Israel of Portland
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro

During my explorations of Portland, I am stumbling on many beautiful and sturdy houses of worship. Many of these date to the early and mid-1900s in this city. Temple Beth Israel, in the city’s northwest neighborhood, is among the most beautiful of all structures dedicated to the celebration of and expression of faith. The building, built in neo-Byzantine style (meaning duplicating the style of the great Hagia Sofia Church in Istanbul), is on the National Register of Historic Places. I used my GoPro to snap these first round of photos, and some members of the congregation graciously let me in to see the beautiful interior. I loved it. I hope to photograph as many of these stately buildings as I can on my free hours. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a seperate picture page.)

Portland’s most scenic drive, Northwest Cornell Road
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.
Shot with a GoPro.

Northwest Cornell Road climbs up the city’s West Hills more than a thousand feet, with trails intersecting the two-lane thoroughfare. It is one of the city’s most popular bike rides, and hikers and trail runners access world-class Forest Park from here too. Two tunnels were carved out here during the Great Depression, as a Works Project Administration project. They have both that sturdy quality of craftsmanship and utliitarian functionality that typify the great building projects of this era of American history. They are, in fact, timeless in their beauty, and I like them. Here are a few shots of one, and the side path bikers taken to avoid tunnel traffic. I think I will be seeing these tunnel a lot in the months to come. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Sellwood neighborhood, first impressions

One of the golden rules of photography I learned years ago was to immediately take pictures when you see something fresh and your mind is open to new ideas and perspectives, not deadened by familiarity and routine. I have always taken my best pictures usually the first days or hours of arriving in a new place, because I am receptive and attuned. So this morning, I did a stroll in my new neighborhood, Sellwood, in southeast Portland. I do not want to make any comments yet, since it is all fresh. But there is a certain degree of “hipness” that permeates the air, and I generally do not like that subjective word. Sellwood is what it is, and it is now home, and here is how it looks with a GoPro fisheye lens, with some added contrast for effect.