Portland Black and White (Minor White)

Columns, Trees - Portland  2019

Railroad Tracks - Portland  2019

"The Oregon Centennial was the 100th anniversary of the statehood of the U.S. state of Oregon. The day of the anniversary was February 14, 1959, but centennial events took place throughout the year. Festivities were held all over the state, with the major attractions at the Oregon Centennial Exposition and International Trade Fair, located at the Expo Center in Portland's Kenton neighborhood, which took place from June 10 to September 17, 1959." - Wikipedia

I remember attending the show at the Expo Center during a family visit to Portland to visit my grandparents. The main attraction for me was a very compelling exhibit of photographs by Minor White:

"In 1959, the Oregon Camera Club included several of White’s WPA photographs in the exhibit This Land, This Oregon at the Oregon centennial exposition. One of the club’s leaders recruited him to teach a workshop, which continued yearly in Oregon until 1967. He also exhibited his own retrospective, 'Sequence 13/Return to the Bud,' at the exposition. 'I feel that a trajectory that started in Portland, Oregon, in 1938,' he wrote, 'has been completed.'"

White had earlier photographed Portland's older buildings under a WPA project; I tried to echo the mood of his work in the photos posted above.