... we took a little drive up to elliot point, where we were treated to an excellent view of "koma kulshan," currently labeled mt. baker ... as is mt. rainer, mt. baker is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano ... what does that mean ... ??? ... simply stated, it's blown up in the past and sooner or later it's going to blow up again ... receiving over 1,000 inches of snow every year, mt. baker is one of the snowiest places in the entire world ... the peak of mt. baker is 51 miles from where i stood taking this photograph ...
... at the point we took pictures of mukilteo light ... it's a rather tidy structure in a very neatly maintained park, so much so that i actually found it to be rather difficult to get a good picture ...
... this geometric composition was the best i could do ... i think that during a really good storm, with waves breaking high against the seawall just behind the lighthouse, this vantage would produce a most dramatic image ...
... while chad attended his conference i walked around seattle ... my first stop was the famous cinerama theater, the only one left ... although relatively few of these theaters were built, from early 1952 through the mid-60s cinerama was the imax of its time ...
... one of my most precious memories is of pa taking us to the indian hills cinerama in omaha, nebraska, to see "how the west was won" ... he'd reserved us the "sweet spot" chairs in the middle of the seating area, and to this day i can still see him turning his head from side-to-side to follow the action on the huge curved screen ... he so loved western movies, and in the cinerama theater it was as if instead of viewing a movie we were actually within the action ...
... i strolled around, discovering all sorts of little parks ...
... i found this beautifully sculpted brickwork ...
... through mirror-like plate glass windows and doors i spied on passersby ...
... lunch was at a little tibetan restaurant ... ten items on the buffet, of which i recognized six, and all sorts of condiments, salad, and rice ... my first trip i did the left side, taking even the green pasty stuff that looked like lawnmower leavings ... as i sat the waiter came, "here's some naan, it's right out of the oven" ... "oh, i didn't order naan" ... "oh, no, sir, it comes with the buffet ... if you want more just ask" ... ??? ... !!! ... unlimited naan ... UNLIMITED NAAN ... [sigh] ... i may have to move to seattle ... second session i sampled the right side of the serving area, including the yellow mushy goo that smelled weird ... turned out, everything was quite yummy ... $11, plus tip ... that was it ... as i paid, with a big smile on my face, i'll add, the waiter said, "oh, sir, aren't you going to have some of the mango ice cream ... we make it up ourselves" ... [sigh] ... yup, i may have to move to seattle ...
... in the fish market there were zillions of bright flowers for sale ...
... fish-fish-fish ... unbelievably low prices ...
... in dallas, texas, 1963, the mysterious "babushka lady" taking pictures as president kennedy is being assassinated ...
... i found her, she lives in seattle and hangs out at the fish market ...
... leaning over the railing, i stood perfectly still for seventeen minutes, viewfinder to my eye, waiting for just the right composition ...
... i guess that in seattle "harley guy" means something a lot different than it does in maine ...
... chad said, "don't, they might be poisonous," but i went ahead and tried one ... they weren't blueberries, that's for sure ... they weren't poisonous, either ...
... a beautiful day to view the space needle ...
... when adrien and i visited seattle in 2011 we were invited by native people to join in the carving of a totem pole ...
... it now stands tall in the park beneath the space needle ...
... in the space needle's observation platform 520 feet above the street we were afforded an excellent view of seattle and mt. rainer ... when it blows this city is going to have a serious pollution crisis ...
... sunset over the olympic mountains, which we would wander a few days later ...
... dozens of new skyscrapers are being constructed in seattle ... good for businesspersons, good for the rich who like nice views out their living room windows—i'm not sure it's so good for everyone else ...
... little details, from a time when such were important ...
... very gentle things ...
... things we never thought would become offerings in antique markets ...
... a man, who for twenty-minutes paced back and forth talking on his cell phone, alternating between anger and passive-aggressiveness as he ignored puget sounds scenic splendor ...
... never having completely left childhood, i enjoyed the little harbor tugs ...
... if i had to be boat, it would be one of these ...
... the "rat pack," in a wharf shopping area ...
... long after mt. rainer has once again erupted and buried seattle and the surrounding area like was pompei by vesuvius in 79 ce, future archeologists will dig up these signs, and, like the rosetta stone, they will use them to decipher the languages of the ancient people of which they will know so very little ...
... on a break from building, admiring a building ...
... nebuchadnezzar II would be pleased, i think ...
... you can rent a bicycle for only $8/day ... that includes a sanitary wrapped helmet, and you can return the bike to any of many locations in the city ...
... executed in chalk, eco-friendly graffiti ...
... decisions, decisions, decision ...
... tucked against the building wall, i waited perhaps a quarter-hour before everything fell into place ... not as well-known, perhaps, as seattle's other "flatiron building," but i find this west coast "times square building" to be architecturally compelling ...
... and, last of my trip to seattle, my favorite picture ... i'd like to think henri c.b. would be pleased ... i saw the scene developing, saw the moment long before it occurred, moved myself a few feet so that time and space themselves came into perfect conjunction, and then i waited—i waited what seemed like forever, yet i know it was only a few seconds—until without a conscious thought on my part my fuji's shutter snapped open and closed ... of this picture i feel pride thinking i might actually be a real photographer ...
To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition,
in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event.
Above all, I craved to seize the whole essence,
in the confines of one single photograph,
of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes.
HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON