The Narrative Image

Tuesday - below freezing - have to work Wednesday - below freezing - have to work Thursday - first day I don't have to work - not freezing... ...but managed to catch a little bit of ice accenting the falls on Thanksgiving morning. The trail up to the bridge was closed by a gate. A sign on the gate threatened a three hundred dollar fine for trespassing. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, announced Wednesday that he would vote against the White House's recent t ax cuts deal. So I did what I could from the viewing area, trying hard to come up with some unique perspective of this often photographed gorge icon. Beneath the roar of the falling water, you could hear the vibration of heavy things letting go. The wood in the splash pool grows a thick coat of ice on the side facing the falls. This image quickly encapsulates what happens to things that face the falls in sub-freezing temperatures...say...

A sign (or portent) of things to come? My uncle Rico, brother Kip and I escaped from work early on a Friday and headed south as far as Eugene . Turning east, we made it as far as Oakridge before we found it necessary to stop for beer. The Union Brewery features beer, of course, but also a menu uniquely accented with Spam entrees. Curiously, there is a chart over the men’s urinal that details the thermodynamic conductivity of several types of wire…and Spam (surprisingly, Spam holds up pretty well). Uncle Rico Deb : Okay, turn you head on more of a slant...   Deb : Now, make a fist. Slowly ease it up underneath your chin.   Deb : This is looking really good.   Kip : You can say that again.   Deb : Kay, hold still right there. Now, just imagine you're weightless, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by tiny little seahorses.   Deb : [ takes the picture ] That was the one. I think that's gonna come out really nice.   ...

Previously, I presented the two images that were not accepted into the August photography exhibition at the Columbia Art Gallery ( http://www.columbiaarts.org/art-gallery.html ). Now that the ‘Celebrate the Gorge’ exhibit is over, I think it’s safe to post the three images that were ‘invited’ to the show.   Sunrise on Miller Island   A New Way to ‘Take’   Looking East It was my friend Bernadette who encouraged me to enter the show after she saw the ‘Looking East’ photo in my blog post, Cape Horn : What’s In a Name? http://thenarrativeimage.blogspot.com/2010/05/cape-horn-whats-in-name.html The water-level shot pointed up the gorge from the vicinity of the Cape Horn formations seemed to strike a resonant chord within her, perhaps because she also is an enthusiastic kayaker. In any case, she insisted I enter – that picture in particular – and though I wasn’t quite sure how one would go about preparing digital files for a gallery exh...