Portland

It was nice to go on a quick getaway for a few nights.

September 28, 2024

Tags: Travel, Film Photography, Photography

More as a spur-of-the-moment thing than not, my wife and I drove to Portland earlier this week for a two-night getaway. The occasion? My internal odometer ticked up a notch: yet another birthday has come and gone. Needing a change of scene, I thought it would be fun to visit a bigger city, do some shopping, and have a few nice dinners out.

As usual, I put a fair amount of mental energy into how I was going to document the trip photographically before we left home. I had three rolls of Kodak ColorPlus 200 that I originally intented to use during our time in Los Angeles this past summer. Since I ultimately decided to shoot that trip digitally, those three rolls were still sitting around. A few days in Portland felt like the perfect opportunity to use them up.

Over time, I’ve come to realize that I am not a fan of color film. Whether it was for this reason or whether I simply didn’t feel like it, I didn’t write down any of my exposure settings like I do 99% of the time. All I was after were easygoing vacation shots. I gave myself permission to take leave from the encumberance of detailed notetaking.

Rather than lug around a ton of gear, all I grabbed were my Nikon FM10 and the 50mm f/2 lens I use with it.

We spent a few nights at the Moxy in downtown Portland, one of Marriott’s series of hotels that cater to the hip and stylish. Even though I may be turning into a crabby 40-something, having a bit of exposure to younger folks was a nice change of pace. I was probably one of the few individuals in the whole joint without any tattoos. No matter, though. I like experiencing things that are a little different. And I’ve reached the point in life where I feel comfortable enough with myself not to be bothered by being the odd one out.

The front entrance to the Moxy in downtown Portland (left). After you check in at the bar and get your room key—there is no traditional front desk at Moxy hotels—you can grab a bite to eat at a food cart-like dining area (right).

The elevator lobby was full of mirror-like tiles that reflected all kinds of interesting light. Upon first seeing this, I knew I had made the right decision to grab some color film for this trip.

Stepping onto the elevator, one sees this reflection of colorful light off the stainless steel sides of the elevator car.

In Portland, my wife and I did a bit of shopping. We stopped into Powell’s City of Books, where I stocked up on several photography books featuring the work of Saul Leiter and Fred Herzog, two photographers who I have come to admire. I am taking to heart advice I heard some time ago: invest not in photography gear but instead in books.

Powell’s City of Books as seen from across West Burnside Street at SW 11th Ave. in downtown Portland.

Even if you’re not a bookworm, Powell’s is a must-see place if you are ever visiting Portland.

I also made a stop into Pro Photo Supply, where all serious photographers in Portland go. I gushed about how awesome it is to shoot film, and the guy behind the counter completely understood. I topped off my supply of black and white film and got a few rolls of Ilford FP4 Plus and Kodak Tri-X 400. I also bought a roll of Ilford XP2 Super, a chromogenic film processed in C41 chemistry that I’ve been meaning to try for a while.

Apart from doing a bit of shopping, we just wandered around and took the city in.

The Ritz-Carton is one of the many new high-rise buildings in downtown Portland. Somehow it was appropriate there was empty office space there. I recently read that nearly one-third of downtown Portland’s office space is currently sitting vacant. That’s the highest in the nation. The view from our room at the Moxy (right) looked directly into some of that empty office space.

Two photos of NW 23rd Ave, definitely one of the more stylish and well-trodden streets in Portland.

Two photos of the Pearl District just north and a bit west of downtown Portland. On the right is my rather underexposed attempt to capture a sidewalk scene as reflected off the storefront of Anthropologie at NW 11th and Couch.

The pandemic years weren’t kind to Portland. But I have to say that, at least insofar as I could see over the course of two days there, the city has cleaned itself up quite a bit. There is still a seedy vagrancy, but that’s always been there. What was missing were the multitude of homeless encampments that I remember seeing during prior recent visits to Portland. This time around, I didn’t see one tent pitched on the street. There’s still a lot to be done, but I was very glad to see the progress being made there.

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