Cacoctin Creek Aqueduct

Today brought a respite from winter – sunny and temperatures in the 60′s so I had to get out to find something to photograph. Last June I visited the Cacoctin Creek Aqueduct on the C&O Canal roughly half way between Brunswick and Point of Rocks, MD. When I got there I found the aqueduct in the middle of a major restoration project.

This aqueduct had fully collapsed in 1973 and a wooden footbridge was built so you could continue your walk or bike ride along the canal towpath. So today I thought I would go back and see how the project was going and found it finished! They have done a great job rebuilding the aqueduct. Here are some shots from my visit today.

At this point on the canal the railroad tracks run very close to the path of the canal. When the canal needed a structure to cross the creek, so did the railroad. Just upstream on Cacoctin Creek is the bridge (viaduct?) that carries the CSX main line.

This line is very active. During the approximately hour and a half I was on the canal at least five freight trains passed by. I was only in position to catch one one of them as I passed Lock 29 and the lockhouse. The canal was only commercially viable for a short time and shut down altogether in 1924 because of competition from the railroad. The image says it all.

Two Museum Shows

Taube Museum, Minot, North Dakota

Now thorugh February 24 eight of my images from the “Forgotten Places: North Dakota” series will on display as part of a group photography exhibit at the Taube Museum of Art in Minot, North Dakota. The exhibit includes photographs by 10 participants in Tillman Crane’s “Spirit of Structure” workshops in 2010 and 2011 in the Rugby, North Dakota area.

Just in case any of my friends happen to be in North Dakota in January, the reception will be on Thursday, January 12 at the museum in Minot.Let me know if you can make it. Dan Smith, North Dakota Photographer and curator for the exhibit, offered to arrange for a real North Dakota Blizzard if I attended the reception. Unfortunately, I will miss that opportunity!

Cumberland Valley Photographic Salon

The 79th Cumberland Valley Photographic Salon at the Washington County Museum of Fine Art opens January 28 and runs through April 29.

I have not done well in this juried exhibit the last couple of years, but this year I am excited that all four of the prints I submitted were selected by the juror for this year’s exhibit. The images were four out of my “Forgotten Places: North Dakota” series. To have one image selected in this prestigious event would have been fabulous but having all four selected was beyond my wildest dreams!

Grain Elevators, Rolette County

The icing on the cake is that my image “Grain Elevators, Rolette County” was awarded the Youngblood Studios Award for this year.

Juror was Bruce Katsiff, photographer and Director of the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

The reception will be Sunday, February 12 from 2:30-4pm. Please join me to celebrate the continued success of my North Dakota Project.