IrwinFoto

A gallery of photos by Mike Irwin

recent posts

about

  • Tanks at Dawn

    Tanks at Dawn | Ephrata, WA | December 2019

    These tanks hold ag chemicals, not rocket fuel. But this scene got me thinking about the power of molecules. “It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of its problems. It is hypergolic [tending to ignite spontaneously] with every known fuel … and such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water — with which it reacts explosively. If its [protective] coat is melted or scrubbed off … the operator is confronted with the problem of (more…)

  • Tracks in Snow

    Tracks in Snow | Wenatchee, WA | December 2019

    As kids we’d stand on the town’s tracks and play the game “Where To?” It forced us to study maps, so we’d know that far north — beyond those converging, disappearing rails — rose Memphis, St. Louis and the great mystery of Chicago. We had Yankee cousins up there who lived exotic lives. In summer, they spoke in the language of baseball statistics and, in winter, wore thermal underwear. We occasionally got photos of them on sleds in snow and imagined igloos and icebergs. Now I can’t cross a railroad track without (more…)

  • Snowman

    Snowman | Waterville, WA | December 2019

    Peace, dear photo fans, on what I hope for you is a luminous Christmas Day. Even if you’re not religious, this is a good time to practice kindness and compassion — upon waking, during TV football games, with your loud-mouthed brother-in-law who sucked down most of the Buffalo wings. Consider the day an exercise in (more…)

  • 3 Hangers

    3 Hangers | Moses Lake, WA | December 2019

    Things Ignored by Famous Photographers #3 | In a way, every clothes hanger is like a Picasso line drawing. The simple wire shape represents a human neck and shoulders onto which we drape a shirt or coat. A century of innovations — cardboard tubes, foam sleeves, wood not wire — have done little to improve the basic, one-piece design. It’s genius, really; a form so intuitive that (more…)

  • Buttered Baking Pan

    Buttered Baking Pan | East Wenatchee, WA | December 2019

    Things Ignored by Famous Photographers #2 | There’s joy in finger-smearing soft butter over sheet metal. No one in my lifetime has ever mentioned how satisfying it can be. Scooping, dabbing, coating — actions that grease the pan, sure, but also lubricate creativity. My abstract swirls possess a sensuality that reaches deep into (more…)

  • Damp Cracks

    Damp Cracks | Wenatchee, WA | December 2019

    Things Ignored by Famous Photographers #1 | Long after the snow melts, cracks between sidewalk tiles hold moisture. What’s developed in these miniature ravines, it seems, is a tiny ecosystem — algae, moss, ants lining up for a drink — that’ll last until the first extended freeze. I look down and imagine that’s us, drawn irresistibly to water, waddling in flip-flops to our own giant version of  (more…)

  • Windmill #2

    Windmill #2 | Waterville , WA | December 2019

    Run-down windmills attract a variety of wildlife. Ravens, in particular, use them as easy roosts. Hawks perch high to spy rabbit snacks. Marmots dig dens under concrete slabs. Insects and rodents nest in adjacent utility sheds. Windmill buffs bemoan the loss of these dryland devices. But they were built to survive the (more…)

  • Windmill

    Windmill | Waterville, WA | December 2019

    A windmill on a dirt track is sometimes the only hint of humans in isolated areas of the Waterville Plateau. No houses, no cultivated fields, no phone service. Just you, the windmill and an occasional creak from metal on aging metal. Nowadays many of these bladed gizmos stand locked in place, resting and rusting. For me, these vertical structures tie ground to sky and past to present. I’m amazed that (more…)

  • Sprig

    Sprig | East Wenatchee, WA | December 2019

    Garden Wall #3 | “Red was ruby, green was fluorescent, yellow was simply incandescent. Color was life. Color was everything. Color, you see, was (more…)

  • Secured

    Secured | Baker Flats, WA | December 2019

    Garden Wall #2 | “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do our children as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than (more…)