joe Lipka photography

Photographs for Purchase, Exhibition and Enjoyment

What is the Labyrinth?

The Labyrinth is a collection of photographs made at Forts Casey and Worden near Port Townsend, Washington State in the United States of America. These forts, along with Fort Fleagler were constructed in the nineteenth century to defend the only deep water entrance to Puget Sound. Of the three forts guarding Puget Sound, Fort Worden is largest. It is now a state park, campground and conference center. Books Jensen and I visited the three forts in 2002. We did as much exploring as photographing, but as it is when exploring a new site for the first time, the photographic results were mixed. The best image I made on that trip is show below.

Two Ways Out
(negative 020854)

It was one of the last images made of our 2002 trip. I made a platinum/palladium print of this image (from a 4" x 5" negative) and tacked it to my bulletin board at work. I looked at this image for a very long time before I finally figured out why I liked about this particular image. It was the duality of the composition that spoke to me the most. There is a sunlit and a dark portion of the scene. There is an up and down aspect. There are stairs and a door. There is some uncertainty in the doorway. There is obviously something dark in the doorway, but if there are two ways out of the dark room; a retreat as well as a way out by advancing. There are two ways out of the frame; up the stairs and into the doorway. When I showed this print, I titled it, "Two Ways Out."

Daily observation of this photograph allowed me to see through the photograph as strictly an exercise in light and shadow to feel a more deeper connection to the meaning of the photograph. It was this observation that led me to the next level of photography. In 2005, we returned with two specific projects in mind. Brooks, to expand his collection of abstract paint splatters and I to photograph the architecture of the batteries. My project had the specific intent of including at least two entryways in each photograph. I decided to show at least one entryway well lit, and the other dark. My thinking was to present the viewer with choices on which way to proceed in an imaginary journey. I wanted this journey to be a metaphor for choices faced and choices made. Once I made this commitment to a specific set of criteria for my photographs, or put in a more concrete (pun!) terms, given myself an assignment, the photographs were easy to find.

We spent about four days going through the installations at Forts Casey and Worden, photographing between six and eight hours each day. We spent evenings reviewing and critiquing the images made each day. Sometimes we went back and re-photographed, sometimes the review suggested a new approach to a particular situation. Tthe original 400 plus exposures (I made in 2002 and 2005) were narrowed down to the seventy or so images that you see on this website (and in LensWork Extended #64). This group was edited further to approximately 24 that were printed in platinum from digital negatives. A selection of these images are in the Sales Gallery.

If you wish to learn more about the Coastal Artillery Defenses of the United States and Fort Worden in particular, I would suggest the following links to get you started.

Fort Worden Web site http://www.fortworden.org/

The Coastal Defense Study Group. A really good place to start searching for information on Coastal Artillery. http://www.cdsg.org/

Home | The Labyrinth Project Page

Permission for any use including prepress and electronic must be granted by Joe Lipka, joelipka@joelipkaphoto.com

Last updated: March 31, 2008