Sean Duggan Blog

A Spooky One for Halloween...

Abandoned Prison Infirmary [Holga]
Santa Fe, New Mexico, Aug 2, 2006
(click in the image for a larger version)

This was taken a few months ago at the abandoned New Mexico State Penitentiary, the scene of one of the worst prison riots in U.S. history (Feb. 2-3, 1980). Lots of really horrible things happened in that riot (it was a real chamber of horrors) and knowing that history made it quite a spooky place to wander around in...lots of dark corridors, barred windows, cellblocks, smoke-stained ceilings and other strange rooms...not to mention the gas chamber. Many areas were just as they had been left after the riot, only covered with a thick layer of dust.

And for those wondering, yes, the visit had to be arranged in advance because the abandoned section is on the same grounds as the current prison and a guard had to let us in (picture what Elvis would look like if he had become a prison guard, was now 68 years old with white hair, big sideburns and "Elvis" hair)...but after that he left us alone for three and a half hours..."just don't close any doors because they will lock behind you; and stay out of the far end of the south side of cellblock 2. There's a rattlesnake that's gotten in there and she had babies." True story.

My visit here was part of a week long photo class I was teaching at the Santa Fe Workshops last August. The abandoned prison was one of our field trip locations. This seemed to be a good spooky photo for Halloween.

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My apologies for the lack of updates in the past week. I'm just extra busy with my online classes and book deadlines at the moment.

The Steps

The Steps [pinhole photograph]
Manzanar, California  September 6, 2006
(click in the image for a larger version)

Taken at the site of the Manzanar World War II Internment Camp on the eastern side of the Sierras in the Owens Valley. This is one of the camps where thousands of Americans of Japanese descent were taken against their will in 1942 after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

There is an interpretive center that was built in the 1990s but other than that there is not much left of Manzanar now. A handful of stone and concrete foundations and rock-lined pathways, the skeletal remains of roads and some cracked slabs of concrete here and there. These steps were for administrative buildings at the camp.The landscape here is magnificent but it has a hard and unforgiving edge to it. Strong winds whip down the valley, hot in the summer and icy cold in the winter. The location is remote now and I can only imagine how isolated it must have been in 1942.Walking around the site, I could sense the many years of sorrow and heartbreak that had seeped into the soils.

Fedora, After the Flood

Fedora, After the Flood [pinhole photograph]
Death Valley, California  September 10, 2006
(click in the image for a larger version)

Another view of this same location can be seen here.

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This photograph was made with a ZeroImage 6x9 multi-format pinhole camera (for this shot the format was set to 6x7cm).

Desert Slinky

Desert Slinky [pinhole photograph]
Death Valley, California  Sept 10, 2006
(click in the image for a larger version)

And, of course, when hiking in remote, desolate wilderness areas, one should always remember to bring along a slinky...

This photograph was made with a ZeroImage 6x9 multi-format pinhole camera (for this shot the format was set to 6x7cm).

Abandoned Mine

Abandoned Mine [pinhole photograph]
Death Valley, California  September 10, 2006
(click in the image for a larger version)

To really get a sense of what it was like to be standing here, you have to imagine that it was about 110 degrees (43˚ C) and, apart from a sliver of shade from the hillside on the left,  the only significant relief from the sun was inside the mine shaft (and I wasn't about to go exploring in there!). It was so hot that I almost didn't have the energy to set up the pinhole camera for a few shots of this area, but I'm glad that I did. (And if you're wondering, yes, I did have plenty of water with me, a broad-brimmed hat and frequent applications of sunscreen.)

The cracked mud, still moist in places, is the only sign that there had been a flash flood three days earlier. I was hiking down a wash or gulch in the badlands near Zabriskie Point and you could see that for an hour or so at least it had been a raging river during the height of the storm.

I passed a few of these abandoned mine tunnels on my hike, and it was apparent that water had flowed into some of them. As it was a clear day with no hint of rain, I was more concerned about rattlesnakes in the tunnels than floodwaters, but I didn't see any. The scale is deceptive in this shot. I would not have been able to stand upright in this tunnel and would have had to go in on all fours.

Not far from this mine entrance was a small park service sign that warned "Stay Out, Stay Alive" accompanied by text and cartoon pictures warning of rotting timbers, unsafe ladders, unexpected holes and drop-offs, lack of oxygen and poisonous gas, and unstable explosives. After nearly an hour and a half of hiking to reach this point, that was the only trace of human activity (aside from the mine tunnels) that I saw.

This photograph was made with a ZeroImage 6x9 multi-format pinhole camera (for this shot the format was set to 6x7cm). All of the posts this week will feature recent images from this camera.

Desert Raven

Desert Raven [Holga]
Death Valley National Park  Sept. 6, 2006
(click in the image for a larger version)

Just before I stopped at this overlook a military jet came screaming over the landscape and dove into the canyon in the background of this image. My guess is that the pilot had some form of ground-hugging radar engaged as the jet was really low and following the contours of the canyon quite closely. It roared down the canyon and disappeared into the Panamint Valley below. About 30 minutes later, I saw from another vantage point farther down the road that it shot back up through this canyon the same way it had entered. The China Lake Naval Weapons Station is quite close to this section of Death Valley National Park so I imagine that this type of activity is pretty common, but it was the first time I had been so close to such a low flying fighter jet.

And as for the raven, silently lifting off the edge of the precipice and flying off into the canyon...that was a gift.

World Traveler

Self Portrait with Globe [Holga]
Bodie, California  Sept. 11, 2006
(click in the image for a larger version)

Taken a month ago today in the ghost town of Bodie, California. The view is looking in through the window of the schoolhouse. The cracked and weathered spherical object is the aging ghost of the schoolroom globe.

I also took some digital shots of this same scene, but the minute I noticed my reflection in the window interacting with the globe in this way, I knew that it was really a Holga image. And those instincts were correct. This one is so much better than the digital shots.

Trail's End

Trail's End [Holga]
July 1, 2006  somewhere on the coast of Maine
(click in the image for a larger version)

Another photo from Maine, though this one is not from my most recent trip in September, but from earlier in the summer. This location really was the end of the trail: the road ended abruptly right at the ocean's edge. I think that this would be a good location for a murder mystery...

Tea by the Sea

Tea by the Sea [d-SLR]
Port Clyde, Maine
Sept 30, 2006
(click in the image for a larger version)

Digital test: The kettle was placed there for a pinhole photo, but I usually take a digital test image while I'm there. Just to preview how it looks and also as backup in case something goes awry with the film.

The pinhole version used a very long shutter speed (about a minute if I remember correctly) so the surface of the water will have a smooth motion blur quality to it that this image does not. I just sent the pinhole film off for processing today so it'll probably be a couple of weeks before I have a chance to scan it. Thanks to the owners of the apartment where I was staying for (unknowingly) providing such a great kettle!

The Sea Truk from the previous post is to the left and behind me a bit. The tide was much higher when I went back on this day.

Trivial details that I find very satisfying: The angle of the kettle spout and the angle of the boom on the lobster boat are nearly the same. ;-)