Rudy Owens Photography

The foreign-flagged city on the seas heads to Alaska

 

The Bahamas’-flagged Norwegian Jewel sets sail for the pristine waters of Alaska in July 2014.

Alaska cruise ships operate in U.S. and Canadian waters, yet are exempt from U.S. labor laws and most corporate taxes by virtue of being incorporated and flagged in third countries and because of the Jones Act. This obscure maritime law allows cruise line firms to use foreign-built ships and foreign labor, not U.S. ships and U.S. workers, in U.S. waterways because they make a port of call in another country (Canada). These enormous ships’ crews hail from many countries, like Italy and the United Kingdom, and have lower-paid workers below the deck who come from developing nations such as the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. These employees are not paid equivalent U.S. wages.

However, it is unlikely most of the passengers on these massive ships know who is even running the ship that passes through some of the world’s most beautiful waterways, in British Columba, Washington state, and Alaska. Most of those passengers are having a great time, eating buffets and gambling, shopping, and stopping at small towns like Ketchikan, Skagway, and Sitka. If you want read about how odd these floating feeding frenzies can be, read the late David Foster Wallace’s short story called Shipping Out. Wallace notes, “All of the Megalines offer the same basic product–not a service or a set of services but more like a feeling: a bland relaxation and stimulation, stressless indulgence and frantic tourism, that special mix of servility and condescension that’s market under configurations of the verb ‘to pamper.'”

They also make money for the towns where the dock and the cities that host the ships, like Seattle, so they have many supporters. The corporations that own these ships also fund very sophisticated  business advocacy teams that ensure regulations that control their discharges (see EPA fact sheet) do not impact the profitability of their operations in either Canada or the United States. Fights over their discharges, including waster water and air emissions, have been ongoing for years.

I photographed  the Norwegian Jewel as it was pulling out of the Port of Seattle, en route to Southeast Alaska, on July 12. Run by Norwegian Cruise Lines of Florida, it was built in Germany, is flagged in the Bahamas, and can hold more than 3,500 passengers and crew members. Information on the country of origin of the crew members is not readily accessible. My guess is most of the people on the deck of this ship could care very little about any of the larger regulatory issues discussed in this summary, and they will have a fun trip while being pampered. (Click on the photography to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Summer sunsets in Seattle
Taken July 12, 2014.
Taken July 12, 2014, from West Seattle.

We have had some amazingly beautiful evenings out here in one of the most expensive, and beautiful, cities in the United States. With scenes like these, no wonder speculators are paying $1 million and higher for homes that about five years ago sold for about $600,000. Oh well, might as well enjoy it while I can, and come up with that brilliant business plan soon. (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Salsa and Seattle Sunsets at Alki

 

Taken July 12, 2014.
Taken July 12, 2014.

The stretch of beach and road in Seattle that simulates this city’s brand of California is commonly called Alki and Alki Beach. It is a great spot to be on a summer night as the sun goes down and cooler air whips off the Puget Sound. Last weekend salsa dancers gathered on the beach with many hundreds of others to soak it all up. Me too. (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on separate picture page.)

Full buck moon rises over the Port of Seattle
Taken July 12, 2014.
Taken July 12, 2014.

Last night, July 12, a so-called full buck moon or super moon, took light over the heavens. Hundreds of people gathered along Elliott Bay in West Seattle to watch it rise over the Port of Seattle. It was quite spectacular to put it mildly. I decided to slightly adjust the colors of one of these pictures to punch up the orange. You can see the difference. The colors of the moon last night started as light pink, turning to orange, turning to yellow in about one hour. (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Dark and light I found photographing tales from World War II
Taken in 2000, in Aarhus, Denmark.
Taken in 2000.

In 2000, I completed a photodocumentary project highlighting human rights abuses by the Nazis throughout Europe. For part of that project, I met some Danes who were involved in that country’s famous boat lift of its Jewish citizens to Sweden to escape being deported and murdered by the Nazis at death camps. It is one of the few positive stories from this incredibly sad, psychologically dark, and awful episode of human history. One of the couples I met, David and Lilian Birnbaum of Aarhus, Denmark, met in Sweden after they were successfully carried to temporary safety. Some recent exchanges I had from someone who knows them made me think about their incredible story again and how wonderful it was to have stumbled on such a bright tale from such an awful time. The other photo I am including is a sample from hundreds of photos I took at more than 20 death and concentration camps scattered across Europe. This one, Stutthof, is located about 35 kilometers east of Gdansk. It was a terrible place to those sent there. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Sitka National Historic Park totem poles

 

Taken in 1999.
Taken in 1999.
Taken in 1999.

The Sitka National Historic Park, in the beautiful southeast Alaska city of Sitka, features some of the finest examples of Tlingit totem carvings, old and new, in the world. It is also among my favorite sanctuaries in the world. I lived in Sitka for a summer in 1992 and visited this place several times a week. These photos were taken during a trip I took in 1999, now 15 years ago (wow). So many of these totems most certainly have aged since I photographed them. More examples of my Alaska photos can be found on my Alaska gallery. (Please click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Seattle sunset and selfies from Kerry Park

 

Taken July 7, 2014.
Taken July 7, 2014.
Taken July 7, 2014.

On these amazingly beautiful summer nights in Seattle, one can finds huge crowds of locals and visitors at Kerry Park, on Queen Anne, snapping photos and gazing at Seattle, the Port of Seattle, and the Puget Sound. It’s quite a nice spot. Come if you can. (Click on each photograph to see larger pictures on separate picture pages.)

The Space Needle, icon of the Northwest
Taken from Seattle’s Kerry Park on July 7, 2014.

The Space Needle is perhaps the most photographed landmark in Seattle. On a nice summer night, hundreds of people can be found on the overlook on Queen Anne that gazes upon this 1960s monument built for Seattle’s World Fair. (Click on the photograph to see a larger photograph on a separate picture page.)

Summertime, and it is hot

 

This shot was taken in one of several refreshing lakes near Omak, Wash., a beautiful area about four hours by car from Seattle.

In central Washington, temperatures can push up to 100 F during the mid and late afternoon, and residents head for the nearest body of water to cool down. This shot was taken near Omak, Wash., in 2012. (Click on the picture to open the photograph on a separate picture page.)

The raven and the frog, Tlingit totem
This is one of many totems at Sitka National Historic Park, in Sitka, Ak. (taken in June 2004).

At Sitka National Historic Park, site of a historic battle between invading Russian fur traders and their Native allies against the Native residents of the Tlingit band, amazingly beautiful totems are on display, old and new. Artists keep the tradition alive and carve on-site. This is one of my favorite places in the entire world, and I hold the raven with deep regard, like the Tlingit residents who lived here for thousands of years before. (See more pictures from the Great Land on my Alaska gallery.)

Editor’s note: I have corrected my description of the totem carving after hearing from an apprentice who worked in Sitka at the carving studio at the historic park. I had incorrectly identified one of two animals; I have corrected that calling it the frog.