There is a unique emotion that one feels coming upon a ghost town. It’s a bit hard to pin down, but I’d say it’s an amalgam of melancholy, serenity, and a sense time having been compressed all around you. It’s the kind of feeling that you’d expect to find a fun compound word for in … Continue reading High Country Ghost Towns
One of Montana’s nicknames is “the treasure state”, a nod to its wealth of natural resources and gemstones. On this recent road trip, I got to understand just how apt this nickname was. Mining is a huge part of the state’s history and culture, and is still a major industry today. This is visible everywhere, … Continue reading The Mines of Montana
Located in downtown Butte, Montana, St. James hospital had been closed since 1962, and abandoned for decades. When we arrived in town on our recent road trip, we thought we’d have a go at shooting the building. When we rolled up we quickly saw that, though it was rough condition, the place was well sealed … Continue reading St. James Infirmary
I returned a week ago from a grueling, but extremely productive, road trip out West. The hospital featured in this post was actually the last major destination we would see before setting off eastward on the long return trip home, but it was the circumstances of how our visit came to be that made me … Continue reading Great Western Tuberculosis Hospital
My first post on Santa Fe was on the first couple days we spent in town. Thematically, I didn’t see a neat way to divide up the remaining photos, so here is everything else, chronologically. The big event during our week there was the blizzard that hit Tuesday afternoon and paralyzed much of the city, … Continue reading Santa Fe, Part Two: Shit Gets Real
I spent a week around Santa Fe last month. Though often thought of as a hot, desert state, much of New Mexico lies at high elevations, and the southern reaches of the Rockies reach into the area around Taos. The winters can be cold, but are more pleasant than the midwestern winters I’m used to. … Continue reading Santa Fe, Part One: the Jemez Mountains
What initially attracted me to Ecuador was the historic center of Quito and the photo opportunities it might offer. I soon learned that the country is a birdwatcher’s paradise, said to be home to more species per acre than any other country in the world. Mindo, a small town a couple hours northwest of Quito, … Continue reading The Birds of Mindo
Back in April of 2020 I purchased round trip tickets to Ecuador for October of that year. We were two weeks into the shutdown and airfare prices had tanked as travel had all but stopped. Naively, I thought that surely this pandemic will be long over by autumn. Of course, that was not to be, … Continue reading Quito, Abridged
About telve miles west of Lisbon lies Sintra, a town which has been home to the most affluent of Portuguese society for centuries. Nestled in a small mountain range named for the town, its elevation and accompanying milder temperatures had made it an ideal summer destination for kings and nobility looking to escape the sweltering … Continue reading Paths and Palaces of Sintra
The city of Porto sits astride the estuary of the Duoro river, about a two hour train ride north of Lisbon. It is the second largest city in Portugal, and may be best known around the world for its port wine, which is produced upriver in the Duoro valley before being shipped to the many … Continue reading The Narrow Alleys and Grand Vistas of Porto
