A suburban maze

What is at this glass corridor’s end? Is it the door to the vault where the secrets are kept? Or is it a way out, and with the right spin of the red dial the door will swing open? Or, is it the secret red button that when pushed will launch next wave to resolve the crisis? Whatever it is, I am not sure…

Per Ankh Performance

A local group called the Per Ankh Institute puts on cultural heritage drumming and dancing performances. This woman is one of the performers. Her regal posture and smile, and her instrument covered with hundreds of cowrie shells all spoke of pride in her heritage. The occasion was the arrival of a cruise ship, and the image below shows some of the watchers. The tall…

Outfall

This image started as an abstract, but somehow also became a reflection on our culture and economy. It is interesting how the colors, the grid-like overlays, and the shapes contribute to an ambiguity of meaning that the imagery of the pipe and wall alone could not carry.

Stories to tell

Vacant and for sale, this old building in the heart of Frederiksted looked like it had many stories to tell. The stone and brick lower level, arched arcade, wood upper floor and tin hip roof epitomize the style of an earlier era that makes Frederiksted so charming. The entire town is a gem in the rough, just waiting for the restorer’s touch to make…

Beyond the Green Door

This is from the same series as the “Window to the Past” in the previous post. Here the brightly lit interior space draws the viewer in toward the green door with the little round window. It looks dark through there. I wonder what is on the other side?

Window to the Past

This window in an abandoned hurricane blow-out looked in on a tiled shower stall, with a green curtain still hanging — all lit from above through the missing roof. It is a strange feeling to come across these not-so-old ruins with reminders of the lives lived there still blowing in the breeze while the vines grow in.

Along King Street in Frederiksted

A young woman was relaxing in the shade of an arched arcade along the main thoroughfare of Frederiksted on the west end of St. Croix. The colors of her clothes and the building, her white headscarf, and the classic arch of the building’s arcade made for an iconic image of this old and economically depressed town.

Just Color!

An old wood shutter, black iron hinge and peeling paint on the stucco wall provided the raw material. These peeling and crumbling tropical facades are the subject of thousands of photos by tourists and pros alike. Still, I can’t resist adding just one more to the pile.

Rum Factory Pot Still

This is an old pot still used in the making of rum back in the nineteeth century. With its strange gooseneck this is a somewhat unusual-looking relic of the sugar-based argibusiness of the Caribbean’s past. The image is dark and muddy to reflect my feelings about that past and some of its effects on people that continue to be passed down through the generations,…

Colonial-era “Copper”

While enduring a stressful period in one of my other endeavors, it seemed a good time to work on what I hoped would be a peaceful landscape, a pretty picture. This was the result. The object in the foreground is a colonial-era artifact known as a “copper”. These large iron containers were used to boil down the cane juice in the production of sugar…

Fort Christiansvaern, Take 2

Here’s a slightly different perspective on our old fort, all planes, shapes and colors. Just the picture for today. That’s all. Time to get back to the shoreline…

An Old Danish Fort

Fort Christiansvaern in Christiansted, St. Croix, is a relic of the long Caribbean history of plantations, sugar and slavery. One version of a part of that history is told in Buddhoe by Patricia Gill. With its many planes, curves and layers, the fort is a photogenic landmark that lends itself to multiple interpretations. This is one of several new images that I am adding…