2018 Retrospect: Monochrome Studies

Directionless
Santa Barbara CA

Obsession
Salvation Mountain, CA

Citadel
Griffith Park, Los Angeles

Rush
San Clemente CA

Gravity
Wilkeson WA

The end
Whiskey Creek WA

Down by the riverside

Captured these as we looped down to Oregon at the end of July, weaving along the back highways following the tail end of the Columbia River.

Ilwaco, WA

Not much going on in this old fishing port on at the mouth of the river, but they do make an effort keeping Main Street colorful and "vintage"!

Bar, Scappoose, OR

Rhymes with "papoose."

Auto shop, Scappoose, OR

Scappoose is a surprisingly thriving strip along Highway 6. This building looks like it's been through a few bar fights.

Scappoose, OR

Even the front door is slightly gimpy.

St. Helens, OR

Time remains frozen on the banks of the Columbia. Except they do show 3-D films.

St. Helens, OR

I don't know about Robert Frost, but I do like a good wall.

Westport, OR

Green patch of mystery in another wonky door.

Westport, OR

Westport, OR

Signage galore...keeping the past alive.

St. Johns, Portland OR

A wonderful north-end riverside neighborhood.

St. Johns, Portland OR

A hot morning, good for manly shorts and tank tops.

St. Johns, Portland OR

The Western Well, not to be confused with the Western Wall.

St. Johns, Portland OR

Our family had this car, or "as close as dammit," in the '50s. My father dubbed it "Uncle Wiggily."

Random Pasadena

Chico's Restaurant

Mt. Washington

Freedom

Oculus, Norton Simon Museum

Reflective self-portrait with butt

Family Album

This week, some portraits of little-known ancestors.

Capt. Elver Aloysius Bently, school teacher, Pine Dell Butte ND

Cadwallader Bently, purveyor of fine whiskeys, Horsewhip MT

Emmelina ("Skunk") Bently, goat rancher, Faddle OR

Alistair Quinoa Bently, rustler, Corn Valley MO

Chester Walter Elder Bently, haberdasher, Rockhard AR

Deirdre P. Bently, antiques monger and inventor, Zumwalt MI

Dr. Randolph Bently, alienist, Wildbreath WY

Galbraith Bentle, pharmacist and saloon-keeper, Deadhead CO 

Chattanooga Jane Bently, hoarder, Saint Basmati WV 

Rev. Cornelius Bently, Shaker minister and cardsharp

Zumwalt Bently, livelihood unknown, Nutsville AL

The Woodrow Tallywhacker Bently family, threshers, Zoom KS

Note, these are all photos I took around Washington and Oregon in the last few years. Antiqued with Help from Arcsoft PhotoStudio 5.

Inside and Out

Finally the sun came out and so off I went to the south county in search of inspiration.

Coming Soon, Renton WA

Vacant, Kent WA

Antiques, Kent WA

Black magic, Kent WA

The Market at 10 PM

Apologies to Giacometti.

Hardly a palace, especially at 10 PM -- let alone 4 am -- Seattle's normally bustling Pike Place Market does settle down a bit at night.

Took these on my circuitous way home from a neighborhood "Harvest Festival."

Revelers

Lurkers at the Gum Wall

The Night Watch

The Crafts Bazaar

This Way Down

The Sanitary Market

Holiday Backstage

This weekend, the neighborhood's annual holiday bazaar materialized briefly in the vast space once occupied by the Red Apple grocery. I was there in the early hours before the throngs showed up to shop for jams, candles, scarves, greeting cards, jewelry, and other mostly locally produced gifts. As always, I was more entranced by what lay behind the scenes, in the bowels of the old store: vacancies within the larger vacancy, relics of commerce.