The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

MONTANA HIGHWAYS (07/18/12)

Yellowstone National Park is in Wyoming, but it abuts Montana, specifically, the town of West Yellowstone.  The Yellowstone t-shirts and Yellowstone bumper stickers are about 60% less expensive here.

INTERNET!  Oh No!  It's closed!  We had a nice organic sandwich at a nice hippie establishment before we headed out of town and up the road . . . gotta make Butte by nightfall.

The countryside outside the National Park is every bit as beautiful.

Such beautiful scenery is unforgettable.

I want a cabin right here!

The drive from Yellowstone to Butte, Montana is a couple of hundred miles, but it is never boring.  The topography is constantly changing.

Stunning views of open range land and big, wide open spaces . . . and that sky!

. . . that huge, dramatic sky!

I couldn't help myself . . . these ARE Ansel Adams skies.

We saw the "Strawberry Pie" sign in the window of the Ennis Cafe and immediately pulled over.  That thunder storm finally caught us.

Although seemingly not a perfect day for photography . . . there was a certain mood about the landscape . . . still and dark . . . with a gigantic thunderhead looming . . .

Double thunder storms (binary system?).  Those clouds above were roiling.

Clouds are gigantic structures in our world that we do not pay enough attention to . . .  these heavily water saturated clouds seemed suited to a black & white study.

Montana sky and prairie.

Old farm houses were sparsely distributed around the landscape.  I love these old weathered surfaces . . . anywhere in the world I find them.

As the old saying goes, "It's not in the middle of nowhere, but you can see it from there" certainly fit this magical spot on our home planet.

Saw these big rolls of hay and had to stop. 

Nice textures, shapes, and shadows.

Montana is a big, beautiful place.

Moving on down the ever-changing Montana highways.

BUTTE, MONTANA: A GHOST TOWN IN THE MAKING

Butte, Montana, once the "Richest City In The World" in the 1880s, but not any more.  It was the largest city west of the Mississippi river, but not any more.

The wealth of the mine, shich sits right next to the city (and underneath it!) financed wonderful archecture and city planning.

The Golden Era of Butte was between the 1880s and 1917, when copper production began to decline.  There is an excellent documentary, Butte, America, worth seeing.

I wish I had made more time for Butte on this vacation.  I could have spent days in this amazingly photogenic old city.

The Silver Dollar Saloon, Butte, Montana, USA.  I do not know what the slogan on the sign refers to . . . .

. . . but the saloon had a wonerderful old sign.

There remains many references to the large Chinese population the American West once held.  The Chinese were brought to America to build the railroads and dig the mines.  The saga of the Chinese workers in Butte, Montana is a very sad story of exploitation, exclusion, and discrimination.

Butte noodle parlors . . . over 100 years old.

There must have been a very large Chinese population here at one time.  These old noodle merchant buildings now house a fine museum dedicated to the history of Asians in the Western USA.

I had to accept the light before me . . . if I were to spend some time here I would know where to be with my camera at the "right" time of day . . . still . . .

. . . even with the harsh light, there was much to appreciate.  "Old Space" is my favorite subject matter: something made, a space defined (positive or negative space) and never touched, or repaired, or maintained for long periods of time.

Somewhere, in Butte, Montana, an artist moves in the shadows.

Sometimes, Time itself is a maker of Art.  High altitude, deep blue sky, clear air that does not refract light, and a polarizing filter can create some interesting effects, like this black sky.

I do not know if I will ever return to Butte . . . . but I will remember it's strangely beautiful ambiance.

As we drove out of Butte, I stopped to take this photo of an old mine "Head Rig," a symbol of it's past glory, and it's present predicament.

We stopped for gas and lottery tickets an hour west of Butte.

A summer Montana alfalfa field.  One can only wonder how deep the snow is here in the winter!

I knew I should have employed the porcelain convenience at that Conoco station!  Oh well, an unscheduled stop brought the discovery of an old road bridge.

These one-way bridges bring back more childhood memories from my many moves across the country. Sometimes there would be a flagman, sometimes lights, and sometimes you had to just play chicken!

The water looked refreshing, but we had to move further on up the road.

Looking west, as millions have done before me.

Stopped for B-B-Q and noticed this sweet home.

The air was so clean and the light so perfect . . .

. . . I had to take these photos.  It's a shame these are not full frame, full-resolution photos.  I can literally count every single pine needle!

The world's largest dandelion puff . . . it was as large as my hand!

The National Fish Hatchery Museum is located at the site of America's first fish hatchery, established in 1889.  It was so clear and bright when I pulled the car over, but the ONLY cloud in the sky decided to make me wait 20 minutes before I could take this shot.  It was the last stop in Montana.

IDAHO: CUTTING ACROSS THE PANHANDLE (07/19/12)

Idaho.  We cut across the narrowest part of the state.

We dropped out of the Montana high country towards the big valley that starts with Coeur d'Alene and ends with the Washington Cascades.

We stopped only once in Idaho, in the old silver mining town of Wallace.

In 1890 Wallace was the most populated town in Idaho (population 2000), in 1910 it burned to the ground.

Today Wallace is a beautifully restored tourist town with a population of 784 (2010 census).

There was a lot of civic pride evident in Wallace . . .

. . . we arrived in the middle of the Wallace Chamber of Commerce's Annual Flintstone Days.  You do not see this kind of thing every day!

You needed a substantial bank building to hold all of that silver.

There is a total of about four square blocks in Wallace now, but we enjoyed walking around and sticking our heads in the quaint shops and fountains.

An old hardware store was converted into an antiques shop, but they kept the origional 100 year old hardware store fittings and furnishings as they were.  Nice.

The Wallace hardware/antique shop has a sumptuously welcoming interior.

I am very happy to report that no matter where in the world I go, no matter how large or small the town, there is always an artist. Wallace, Idaho painted cabinet.

I thought, as I always do, what it would be like to live in this sweet little town . . . .  but decided against it . . . . what would I DO?

Wallace had a fountain/old games parlor.  These old juke boxes were amazing, as were the old pin-ball machines.  The owner said they were were all in A-1  working order.  There was no way I was going to ship one of these gems to Bangkok!

The soda fountain in the front of the shop was a marvel, untouched from the 1920s.

I had a world class piece of home made apple pie and an excellent cafe latte. I have a feeling that they didn't serve cafe latte in the 1920s in Wallace, Idaho!

A business opportunity can be had in this recently refurbished historical building.  I LOVE the period art deco erectile signage!

Interstate 90 was calling, so we said good-bye to Idaho and a few hours later pulled into  .  .  . Spokane, Washington State.