Tosin’s Images & Anecdotes (TIAA) is my self-assigned photography challenge of 2022. The immediate objective is to select one image from my inventory (a cityscape, landscape, portrait, oddity, etc.) each week and write something about it. This “something” could be the story behind the photo, a triggered memory in relation to the photo, or simply a reaction or reflection based on the subject matter featured. The long-term objective is to encourage myself to add more content to “La Vue Atypique”, which celebrates its first decade in publication this year.
What can I say about the photograph above?
Earlier this year, Seattle experienced a few days when it was completely engulfed in fog, creating an almost palpable air of enigma and spookiness — especially when night confiscated the dominance of daylight.
I wrote an illustrative blog article featuring several photographs to document the event back in January.
If you’re a James Bond enthusiast, you might like this.
Take it away, Shirley.
During that time, I visited the man-made Harbor Island which serves as the central hub of the Port of Seattle. Across the Duwamish Waterway from the southeast of the island lies a cement plant which — aside from the towering platform showcasing the American flag that can be seen from far away — looks fairly nondescript. If you weren’t paying any attention to it, you would probably take no notice of it, truly. (How often are people on a dedicated mission to locate a cement plant?). It would just be part of the landscape on your journey from Point A to Point B. Nothing more.
I opine that the plant is probably not the most visually attractive sight on a regular day or night.
However, when the heavy fog enshrouded the Emerald City, it literally and figuratively transformed dull and ordinary sites into intriguing and rather extraordinary visions. The Ash Grove cement plant was one such place. Under foggy conditions and low light, the plant resembled, to a certain extent, what I imagined to be a lunar base.
This week’s image triggered my imagination of what life on the moon might look like. I envisioned that artificial, oxygen-conditioned villages existed within the two spherical domes in the foreground. The tower featuring the illuminated American flag would denote that the base was the domicile of American citizens.
All of a sudden, upon capturing my imaginary lunar landscape with my camera and tripod, a curious thought entered my mind: What if such a base actually does exist on the moon and has been kept a secret for a few years or decades?
In this utterly crazed day and age, would such a concept be that farfetched?
Alas, this consideration resulted in the title for this week’s blog entry. You never know nowadays, right?
42 articles down for the TIAA challenge. 10 remain!
Wow! Looks like the set of an outer space odyssey film. Amazing what low light and fog can create in otherwise regular surroundings. Great shot!