tarnished...

On deck of the MV Coho from Port Angeles to Victoria, November 2004.

We couldn't bear the agony of being in the US for the 2004 elections. So (after voting by mail in Oregon) we made for the northern border. The Coho is the ferry service running across the Puget Sound between the US and Canada; we were among the refugee walk-ons this chilly grey morning.

On earlier trips I've made on board the Coho, this brass bell has been polished and shiny, a perfect subject for black & white imagery. On this occasion, though, the bell was tarnished and weather-spotted, without lustre. You can barely make out the ship's name.

It was a pleasure to arrive in Victoria and we had some lovely days there. Of course the election itself was the disaster we feared, and our national destiny since then has become darkened far beyond the tarnish of this bell.

We will leave more of these big 6x9 rectangles for another time, jonesing as I am now for a return to some solid squares...

Fuji GW690-III, Kodak TXP(220).