The Narrative Image

Mr. ‘T’ travels the world. Armed with a sophisticated, lightweight point and shoot, he documents his travels in the tradition of the best travel photographers. By that I mean, when you look at Mr. ‘T’s travel photos, they provoke a profound sense of wanderlust. Sometimes it makes me jealous. Why am I not disciplined enough to earmark money for travel? Why don’t I go to more beautiful, exotic places?   But then Mr. ‘T’ mused, “ Someday I’d like to photograph Portland a bit like I was a tourist.” That’s when I was reminded that I actually live in a beautiful, exotic place, and the only reason I don’t notice is because I see it every day. So we agreed to meet after work and try to view our city as if we were visitors. This is what the south portion of downtown Portland looks like from a vantage point high in Big Pink, the U.S. Bancorp tower. A similar view can be attained by visiting Portland City Grill on the 30 th floor. I know this sounds stupid, but fo...

The other day at work, a colleague described me as a pessimist (I remember thinking, “No good can come from this!) Turns out, there’s some people who see the glass as half full, some who see it as half empty, and then evidently there’s my case where not only is the glass completely empty…the faucet isn’t working either. But my immediate response was to deny it. I tried to argue that I’m among the first to look for the humor in particular situations. It was then I learned that gallows humor, “…finding irony or comedy in serious matters such as death,” is kind of an acquired taste. But – but – I stuttered, what about my constant search for and appreciation of creation’s beauty as documented in these blog entries? Doesn’t that reflect some small measure of optimism? Even as I said it, I completely expected that it wouldn’t save me from a futile life as a cynical pathetic wallflower. So I thought I’d take another stab at inspirational, perhaps even optimistic ‘free verse’ to exerci...

Yep, the following retrospective of some of my favorite images and excerpts from the first full year of The Narrative Image pretty much means I didn’t manage to take any new pictures this week. Snow Day – Mt. Tabor Park - January 16, 2007 “But snow days reveal that we like and need each other too. In many cases, just a few hours of freedom from work and the consequential forced isolation in a house or apartment results in the rare release of our inner children. Wide eyed and innocent again, kids of all ages bundle up and join together to play like dogs or otters in what seems to be a pure white blanket of redemption.” Peace Rally & March - South Park Blocks, Downtown Portland - March 18, 2007 Over 10,000 concerned Oregonians marched in the streets of Portland to constructively express their opposition to the war. The following day, conservative media hosts chose to focus on the radical activities of a few black-clad, masked and anonymous anarchists who attempted to impose their a...

My apartment sits at the base of an extinct volcano…at least I hope so. With luck, the tectonic plate that Oregon rides upon has migrated far enough to carry Portland past the molten magma furnace that fueled Mt. Tabor in the distant past. If you weren’t looking for it, you might not recognize that a small amphitheatre and basketball court are built in the throat of a cinder cone. The following images are arranged in geographical order. The images begin at the public stairwell at the north entrance to Mt. Tabor Park. The route will follow the stairs up to the top of Mt. Tabor, then over the top towards the south. From there, the path will meander down and to the west, stopping to visit each of Mt. Tabor’s reservoirs in order of altitude. While the route through space will be orderly and sequential, the path through time will be random and perhaps jarring. Sunrise – View from public stairs – Oct. 1, 2006 Sunset – view from public stairs – June 5, 2007 Night Rain - Public Stairs, Nor...