IrwinFoto

A gallery of photos by Mike Irwin

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  • Storm Break

    Storm Break | Pacific Beach, WA | January 2020

    Sea Visit | Yipes! This is the non-stop wind and wet we’ve always heard the Pacific Coast can deliver. Multiple storm fronts have hit in the last three days — hurricane-force winds, sideways downpours, darkened skies, twilight at noon. Beachcombers in big pickup trucks drive the shoreline before daylight to find high tide’s treasures (floats, bumpers, ropes, hatch covers). Locals in T-shirts and shorts walk slowly through sheets of rain while checking their phones. We dress, instead, in thermal layers topped by rubber parkas to run the dog in foamy waves. Without a doubt, the best thing about stormy weather is (more…)

  • Waiting

    Waiting | Seattle, WA | January 2020

    “When you wash your hands, when you make a cup of coffee, when you’re waiting for the elevator — consider not thinking. These are all opportunities for (more…)

  • Gap Between Skyscrapers

    Gap Between Skyscrapers | Seattle, WA | January 2020

    “One may have a blazing hearth in one’s soul and yet no one ever comes to sit by it. Passersby see only a (more…)

  • Lost Soles

    Lost Soles | East Wenatchee, WA | January 2020

    Designing tread patterns for athletic shoes has become one of the fashion industry’s premiere careers. Apparently, the physics of friction — how rubber-like substances interact with sidewalks and basketball courts — are mysteries understood by only a few. A hiking boot’s lateral traction, for instance, differs vastly from a tennis shoe’s grip-and-pivot requirements. I inspect the bottom of my bare foot — wrinkled but essentially treadless — and wonder (more…)

  • Landing

    Landing | East Wenatchee, WA | January 2020

    “We’ll be making an unscheduled landing due to an approaching cold front,” said the jet pilot who was flying us to Chicago. So we touched down at a small airport in Wisconsin and sat as snow began to fall hard. Hangars blurred into dark shapes. Crews in Eskimo parkas plowed the taxiway and climbed on wings to check ice conditions. Wind whipped; snow blew sideways. But all 160 of us stayed warm, cozy and quiet in the jet cabin. A weird quiet. No crying babies, no random coughing, no too-loud phone calls. We all seemed content to be sidelined by the uncontrollable, relieved of responsibility, disconnected, unplugged. Asked for a show of hands, we would have agreed this was (more…)

  • Snow Walker

    Snow Walker | Wenatchee, WA | January 2020

    A slip and fall on a snowy sidewalk can dramatically change your life. Sometimes you bounce upright with only a bruised ego. Sometimes you bounce and can’t get up. Not good. So here are three things to remember while trudging in snow: 1) Exiting your house, the soles of your shoes are 70 degrees; they’ll melt snow to produce a slick, wet film for your first 50 steps, 2) Sleet probably fell before any of that beautiful white powder, so always check for (more…)

  • Transformer

    Transformer | East Wenatchee, WA | January 2020

    Static on a TV screen is often called “snow.” We see it in the real world when certain environmental conditions produce random visual stimuli. Blizzards, waterfalls, dust storms. Years ago, a co-worker’s favorite retort was “Don’t gimme no static.” It always triggered the same creepy feeling I got at the start of The Outer Limits TV show. A fuzz-filled screen with the warning (more…)

  • Curb

    Curb | Seattle, WA | January 2020

    A surprise for the eyes lies almost everywhere in the big city. Lines, shapes, colors, fullness, emptiness and, oh yeah, people. One pleasure is to peer out a high-rise window with no notion of what’s below. Streetscape, sure, but maybe also an unfolding (more…)

  • Exhibit

    Exhibit | Seattle, WA | January 2020

    Life tilts in new directions every time I view art. In books, on walls, across screens — art from inspired minds helps me see differently and reinterpret the world. Yeah, I know that’s what it’s supposed to do. But these days so many claims never pay off. You know: Take a pill; back still aches. Spray the carpet; stain remains. Order a sandwich; where’s the meat? Yet art — even bad art — delivers (as promised) a (more…)

  • Reeds

    Reeds | Ephrata, WA | January 2020

    Two reeds — one curved, one straight — represent every shape of every object in the universe. Yep, just two lengths of grass in a murky pond can form the outlines of the bagel we had for breakfast, the bridge we crossed to get to work, the star cluster we saw as a (more…)