I've moved!

I'm now blogging at photoj.net. Thank you for visiting here, and I hope you'll continue to look at my pictures at the new site. (It's a work in progress -- I hope to have galleries up soon.)

Mapplethorpe at the Henry

Provocative pictures will draw fame, or at least notoriety. I get it. In the '70s and '80s, Robert Mapplethorpe was trying to push buttons with his bondage pictures, but now the shock value's worn off. (Visit the Seattle Erotic Art Festival and you'll know what I mean.)

Mapplethorpe's Polaroid portraits in the Henry's new show, however, were gorgeous studies. Each small composition was a joy to examine up close.

The man also had a sly sense of humor. I loved this invite to his first solo show.

From the text panel:

"Mapplethorpe opened his first solo show on January 6, 1973, at Light Gallery, 1018 Madison Avenue, New York. For the invitation, he took a self-portrait in the mirror, holding his Polaroid camera in front of his bare crotch. Hundreds of gelatin silver prints were made from the negative and embossed with Mapplethorpe's name.

"A label was affixed to the back of each photograph with information about the opening's location and time. Either a red or a white paper dot was applied to the front to conceal the penis -- a tongue-in-cheek dig at earlier laws forbidding the circulation of nudity through the mail.

"The invitation was then slipped inside the protective paper that came with Polaroid film, and was posted in a cream-colored Tiffany envelope."

Sure beats an Evite!

In her shoes

Chris gives me a hard time about my silly shoes, made for looking cute, not for walking. Pointy toes, pencil heels, four-inch platforms -- I know they're ridiculous, but I can't help loving them.

I saw these shoes at the Henry, and even I had to agree, they don't look very comfortable.

Woman's stilted sandals from the 19th century, probably made in Syria.

From the description:

"Chopine is a term used by costume historians to refer to extraordinarily high platform shoes that were worn in Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. Venetian women were particularly enamored of the style, allegedly adapted from similar shoes called kabkab worn by Turkish women in the bathhouse. ... Like the Turkish women who wished to keep their feet high and dry above wet bathhouse floors, Venetian women perhaps likewise wanted to protect their feet and clothing from the infamous high water of their city.

"The shoes that had modest origins in public bathhouses as purely functional footwear were increasingly used to represent a woman's social standing. The shoe's height enabled women to wear longer dresses displaying more fine fabrics and embroidery, resulting in a clear demonstration of wealth."

Discovery Park

Seattle was blessed with a beautiful fall Sunday, sunny and breezy, perfect for a walk. After living in the area more than four years, I visited Discovery Park for the first time.

Chris and I hoped to spot a cougar, but the closest thing we saw was a lady in a WSU hat. A bald eagle flew directly overhead, low, while we sat at the beach. My initial reaction was, "It looks just like the eagles in pictures!"

Yes, I know that's a seagull, not a bald eagle. I was too thrilled and stunned when I saw the real, live bald eagle to pick up my camera.

Paradise

Chris and I took advantage of a rare day off together to visit Paradise on Mount Rainier. The alpine meadows were blooming a brilliant red.


I'm the ultimate indoors city girl. Three years ago, there is no way I could even imagine wandering around a volcano. Bugs? Bears? Sun? Not for me!

Chris was gentle introducing me to the great outdoors. We stuck to paved trails, and we shared the path with elderly and very young hikers, even a woman in a sari. We basically stayed within sight of the swanky new visitor's center. (Yay for indoor plumbing!)

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Zig zag shadows

When the wife and husband team Weiss/Manfredi designed the Olympic Sculpture Park, they had to find a way to navigate across Elliott Avenue and railroad tracks.

Their graceful solution is a walkway that zig zags over these obstacles. You can see the pattern from the air, and also echoed in the late afternoon shadows on Elliott.

Morning light

I'm an obscenely cheerful morning person. (Hard to believe I worked the night shift for almost three years, when I'd regularly stumble home after 1 a.m.)

I love watching the sun rise. First pink, then gold streaking into my kitchen.

Men of Jambool

Photographing software developers isn't quite the same as photographing a couple in love. Nonetheless, the Jambool guys obliged me with their GQ best. Team San Francisco was in town, the perfect opportunity to make a group picture.

We walked three blocks from their office in Pioneer Square to Seattle's City Hall, all clean lines and open public space.


Who says Seattle is cloudy and gloomy? It was hard to keep our eyes open with all that sunshine.


I stopped on James Street to catch a bus home, while the guys headed to back to, um, develop more software.

Karen and Blake, married!

Karen and Blake ended their international courtship with an intimate wedding at Parsons Garden on Queen Anne.

A hug for her new mother-in-law.

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Karen's sister and mom.

"Much love, Mom and Dad." Karen's mom signs the guest "book," which will later hold a wedding picture.

Congrats, Karen and Blake! Thanks for letting me be a part of your big day!

Karen gets ready

Karen borrowed her sister's hotel room at the Westin to get her wedding hair and makeup done. The room was perfect, on the 18th floor with a big picture window that let in lots of natural light.

Flats, for easy walking across the grass.

Her veil had beautiful beading along the edge.

Karen's sister gives her a hug before it's time to head to the ceremony. "You look like Grace Kelly," she said.

Karen and Blake, engaged

Karen and Blake are friends of a friend, and I'm so excited to photograph their wedding next week. They are the cutest couple and most obliging models. Thanks, too, to Reza, for letting me shoot at the Jambool office.

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Ferry ride to Bremerton

With Seattle hitting 80-plus today, the cool breeze on the water never felt so good.

At $6.70, a round-trip ferry ticket from Seattle to Bremerton is a recession-friendly treat. I caught the 12:45 p.m., which was empty enough for passengers to enjoy private window seats.

These ferry windows remind me of a strip of film.

No one looked twice at me walking around the ferry taking pictures. You can read an archive story from the P-I about two men who were reported as suspected terrorists for doing the same thing. Turns out they were European business consultants.

Zoom!

For my last week at The Bellingham Herald, I stayed with Gus' family. No matter what kind of day it had been, I knew it would have a good ending. Little feet raced to the front door as soon as the knob turned, and I'd be greeted with a great big smile from this little guy. Somehow, it always helped put things in perspective.

This weekend I got to visit with Gus, who's about to turn 5 and is as full of joy as ever. As a baby learning to walk, he'd zoom everywhere. (The momentum kept him from falling down.) Gus still zooms, except now he's all arms and legs. I can't believe how tall he is getting!

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Gus, of course, isn't the least bit camera shy. His dad (holding him below) is the photo editor at The Herald, and a mentor and friend.

Best staff meeting ever

In late 2006, when the Olympic Sculpture Park was still under construction, some of the P-I's curmudgeons kvetched about losing the parking spots by Myrtle Edwards Park.

Those parking spots -- and the neighboring industrial waste site! -- have now been replaced by a waterfront sculpture park. It houses world class art, and it's completely free and open to the public. Nothing to bellyache about there.

A museum docent led the admissions department on a private tour following our monthly staff meeting. I was seduced by the beautiful light and made a couple of pictures while walking along with the group.

Hannah walks through Richard Serra's "Wake."

The Neukom Vivarium houses an 80-foot long nurse log, a hemlock from the Green River Watershed. The decaying fallen tree is home to many smaller plants, including this fern. The Vivarium is staffed entirely by SAM's incredible volunteers.

On weekend morning runs, I loop through OSP and around Myrtle Edwards Park. There's nothing nicer than being surrounded by art, water and mountains. Here, Marie's looking out on Elliott Bay.

Some of the amazing ladies I work with. Behind them is Perre's Ventaglio III by Beverly Pepper.

This type is so tactile and functional. What a smart solution to attaching type to a surface that slants inward.

It was the best staff meeting I've ever been to. Thanks, Emily!