A WINTER COAST

I came across this yesterday crashing around in the salmonberry and salal above Beach 6, trying to pick up a trail that vanished. I soon found the reason the trail disappeared- a good portion of the bluff had been undermined by relentless surf and storm and collapsed. And continues to do so, really- the collapse is taking a good part of the forest with it in an exquisitely minute, almost glacial ride down the incline, like an amusement of epochal measure.

Note: I  tilted the horizon out of level to the left a bit to visually counter the leaning of the trees, and the lilting cloud line. I considered leaving it level, and using the optic trickery to emphasize the sense of imbalance and general flailing, but I just couldn’t see anything past it. Funny how that works.

Details:
Destabilized Bluffs, Kalaloch
5×12 camera, 183mm B&L Series V Protar

Kalaloch, February 2009

Anticipating tide patterns is great fun, almost like sorting puzzles out of the infinite. All the more so with a view camera  because there’s no way to see what’s on the viewscreen when you trip the shutter (er, lift the lenscap- no shutter on the Protar). It’s easy to burn up film walking down the beach as your focus deepens and new patterns emerge. But then that’s also the hard part:  resisting the temptation of waiting for just one more tide cycle. But I got lucky this time out- only 3 shots and a half-decent triptych for the day’s work.

Details:
Tide Triptych
5×12 camera, B&L 183mm Series V Protar

A bit frustrated with the road closure hindering my other project, I went back out to the west end yesterday for this first time this winter. Something about seeing the ocean is recharging, especially after seeing the yellow creep back in my eyes in the bathroom mirror and standing on the scale and seeing it up another 10 pounds, 15 pounds- most of that muffling my decision making processes,judgment and higher functions… I was surprised at how different everything looked, just climbing out of the car at Ruby, and equally surprised at the instant boost in my energy level and level of focus; even the dim sun and mist seemed to burn through the cottony convalescent haze and backbedroom winter headaches. I felt like I’ve had a thumb in my eye for six weeks.

So  Kalaloch seems new again, and within the margins of inspiration and reaction, instead of stagnating project quota.

Details:
Alder Grove & Bluffs, Ruby Beach
5×12 camera, 183mm B&L Series V Protar

I actually dreamt about this photograph, which is a new one for me.  I always dream about 9-5 work,  but never about taking pictures, or the pictures themselves, which is just now striking me as fantastically odd. Most of my dreams are simple filterings of the day’s minutia, but with the workfront quiet and anxiety on the rise, this one danced in my head even while the negative remained undeveloped and nestled away in the film holder overnight.  This dream was like  a sleepwalking grant,  a shift paid to spend on the bench, supervised by particle drift and accelerating erosion with no clear task, shoes tied to the wings of scavenging and brawling birds, pecking at my kneecaps before ultimately climbing into the ribcage to roost.

After developing the picture it couldn’t not disappoint, but I’m hoping for a sequel, or a least some Cliffnotes.

Details:
Memorial Bench and Urn, Crescent Bay
5×12 camera, Emil Busch WA Aplanat