Full moon rising on a summer night near Nuuk, capital of Greenland (1998)
On my second night in Greenland, on the first of my three trips, I sat in a state of utter bliss. I watched a full moon rise over the rocky, mountainous coast of west Greenland outside the capital, Nuuk. It was around 10:30 p.m. I don’t think I have seen other natural events as serene or calm as this. More of my Greenland photos can be found on my Greenland gallery, on my web site.
Two years ago, I photographed my friend Val, and her beloved mixed-breed and massive mutt, Hattie, at one of Seattle’s many off-leash dog parks. This was at Magnuson Park. Sometimes, you can take 100 shots, and one or two turn out. Other times, you do better. Here were a couple I liked. Hattie was very fun to photograph. Thanks, Val (and Hattie). More dog pics can be found on my dogs and masters gallery.
I used a very low-tech Canon hand-held digital which was breaking down on this trip. Even then, it still performed like a champ. Use a few Lightroom tools, and voila, something completely different. Needless to say, I loved my time in Indonesia. These are, admittedly, touristy, but I was, admittedly, very much a happy tourist.
My archive of photos dates back now more than 25 years. I scanned (remember that technology?) photos from numerous projects I have worked on since 1989. Lately, I’ve been converting some old color scans into black and white. Here’s one of my old favorites, of the Karva Chauth festival, taken in Varanasi, India, in October 1989. You can compare it against my color version on my India photo gallery.
Karva Chauth festival, Varanasi, India, October 1989
Right after I posted my video I found nearly duplicate videos, some from 2009 as well, of this performing troupe from Ubud, Bali. I guess I was not the only tourist and traveller who was impressed by this fire trance dance performed nearly every night in the cultural center of Bali, Ubud. I loved, loved, loved this performance. I still throw down my Kecak catcalls when describing what it was like to see one of these performances on this touristy but still amazing island. Maybe I’ll post another later.
A couple of months back, I took a late afternoon photo outing to capture some industrial scenes in Seattle’s Interbay railyard and the always photogenic Elliott Bay and Puget Sound, adjacent to Seattle. More of this ongoing series can be found on my photo gallery.
BNSF Locomotives, Interbay Railyard
Pier 91 at Elliott Bay, Looking on to the Olympic Mountains
One of many grain ships filling its hull for the global market
I had a lot of fun at the Seattle Kennel Club Show yesterday (March 8, 2014) at the Century Link Exhibition Center.
Aussie before show time
Basset hound in the breed display area
An adorable Chesapeake gets all the love in the meet the breed ring
Goldens always have the most Buddha-like looks when being groomed
My current expression through still photography, at this moment in time, remains heavily influenced by the highly acclaimed German photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher. The husband-wife duo (Bernd has passed on) influenced perhaps the most acclaimed and financially successful photographers of the past 20 years, through their late-in-life work at the “Dusseldorf School of Photography.” The Bernds’ now famous protégés/students include Thomas Ruff and Andres Gursky. The latter is now on record for selling the world’s most expensive photographic print.
The Bernds were deeply enmeshed in showcasing industrial forms, which they arranged later in books and exhibitions as typologies. (Please read my post about their work and their influence.) They also were telling a story of the economy of the times and the industrial West, just as at was on its downward spiral, before the rise of industrial China and India.
My most recent photographic series on Tacoma and the Duwamish River industrial area of Seattle are in some ways indebted to this thinking, about how the industrial ports of the Pacific Northwest are the lands devoted to the overwhelming power of global trade, the last vestiges of Northwest industrial activity, and the world of high-paid blue collar work that is on the verge of extinction in the United States.
Here is the first of two provocative YouTube videos on the Bechers’ work and thinking, in their own words (you can see part two after part one finishes).
Skate skiing is one of the most phenomenal physical activities I know, and the GoPro Hero 3 video camera is the first camera I know that can capture the pure joy of the sport. I strapped my GoPro to my head and captured the eye-popping scenery of the Methow in mid-February with my friend who lives there. Uphill is great for the lungs and legs, but downhill is what appeals to the brain’s chemistry.
I an enamored with the incredibly diverse ecosystem, economies, landscapes, and topographies of my home state, Washington. This is a compilation I put together of scenery between Winthrop, Wash., and Wenatchee, crossing the many-times-over-dammed Columbia River in mid-February 2014. I filmed this using my GoPro Hero 3, which I had affixed to the roof of my car.
What Beautiful Light 