When Mark Klett and company undertook their ‘Third View’ project, they revisited and rephotographed 110 sites in the US west. I have a similar project in mind for the California coast, and one logistical issue will be choosing my own sites to revisit. Part of the decision-making rests upon the kinds of changes and stories I’d like to tell. Ideally, I’d like to have sites that exhibit a range of coastal landscapes, from those that have changed very little over time to those that have undergone extensive change (whether from natural forces, human intervention, or a combination of both).
A good place to start, of course, is locally. I’ve like the image of the old natural bridge at Wilder Ranch (Figure 1, left). This was taken around 1900 apparently. I’d like to find out who the photographer was, if possible. This image was included in the book by Griggs and Ross that I mentioned in my last post. They rephotographed the same site about 100 years later in 2006 (Figure 1, right).*
This one is easy to relocate and rephotograph, since I’ve been there several times in the past and it’s on a well-known coastal trail. I guess the main question is whether I’d like to lug along a view camera as well just for fun. I do like the idea of using relatively similar equipment for at least some of the sites I rephotograph…even though some of my friends and colleagues think this is kind of insane.
*Figure 1 comes from this post by good friend and colleague Gary Griggs.