Red Tent

Our family recently camped and surfed at La Push, a Quileute owned and operated resort on the Washington coast. This place was little known before the Twilight tourist trade, but it has always been a great destination. It's charm comes from the wild and rugged beaches where intrepid surfers go year round (imagine) and anyone can camp on the beach for free.

Here is a Haiku dedicated to Jake, who tried to teach me to surf before I wimped out after 5 minutes because I was barefoot. It's a list poem of 7 essential things.. True, I've left out marshmallows and chocolate but I didn't have enough syllables for true Haiku (5-7-5):

Red tent, solitude,

beach, sand, surfboard, neoprene

and wood for the fire.

Evolve

Wandering around with my camera, I am often struck by the eloquence of graffiti. With just a word or two, much can be said. There is a dynamic play of color and graphics in language painted onto a canvas of concrete. A power and wealth driven society has produced a counter-culture that defies boundaries and rules. A spray-painted word on a wall or a door has impact and is much more compelling than if you used the word in conversation.

I saw the word, "evolve", spray painted on a wall in Pismo Beach. I stopped in my tracks and aimed my camera. It was reflexive. Visual art forms, film and still-photography are powerful that way. They have a unique ability to bypass the intellect and reach right into our gut.

Graffiti is interesting because it's raw and territorial. In an urban environment it's so common that it blends into the surroundings. I love Graffiti as an artform but it can be aggressive; an unwelcome visual assault when brought into natural settings or places of solitude or reverence.

Tumacacori Mission

The missions south of Tucson were the focus of my recent travels to the Southwest.

Pictured here are the physical remains of the convent near the mission church, San Jose de Tumacacori. Nearby, there is a walled cemetery surrounded by old trees where the graves are marked with stones and dark wooden crosses. As I wandered, seeing things "rectangularly" as usual, I snapped away, picking up impressions of clashing cultures emanating from the walls of the church and the hills beyond.

I imagined voices of First Nation peoples going about their business... The old mission church bells were adding their music too, and in my mind, the sonorous tones were accompanied by the chambered echo of chanting Franciscan Monks. 

Water Locked

I found this urban "white on white" image in the Fremont District, one of Seattle's more interesting neighborhoods. I was drawn to the strong shapes and shadows and gave it the title "Water Locked"

Ascending

This is a photograph of a staircase in a Mexican border town. The framed mirror on the landing wasn't reflecting enough light so I dropped in a photo of my mom on one of her early morning walks in Tucson.

I like the juxtaposition of the dark stairs in the photo leading down to a photo of her going up a hill, ascending toward the sunrise.