Snow in Vicksburg, Mississippi (B&W film)

Dear readers, the heat is here, and the winter of 2018-2019 is fading away into memory. Other than a minor dusting of snow sometime in January, we did not see any of the white stuff. But the winter of 2017-2018 was much more interesting, with three real snowfalls. Because this is a rare phenomenon here in central Mississippi, it is worth recording on film. I bopped out with the Hasselblad and tripod as soon as I could while the white stuff was still falling or just afterwards. Here are a few examples (click any photograph to expand to 1600 pixels wide).

Beulah Cemetery, MLK Jr. Blvd., Vicksburg (50mm Distagon lens, Kodak Panatomic-X film)

Zollinger's Hill Road, Vicksburg (50mm Distagon lens, Fomapan 100 classic film)

Zollingers Hill Road drops steeply down from MLK Jr. Blvd. In the snow, it looks like a country lane. In one of the snowfalls, the city closed it because of the slick surface.

Sycamore Avenue, Vicksburg (80mm Planar lens, Panatomic-X film)

Sycamore Avenue is another small road that drops down into a valley from MLK Jr. Blvd. Once there were small homes along Sycamore, but most have been demolished. When I took this picture on December 8, 2017, the snow was melting quickly, and I wanted to capture the scene in soft light.

West Pine and KCS railroad cut from Belmont Street (80mm Planar lens, Panatomic-X film)

This is the railroad cut between West Pine and Belmont Streets. This has carried the railroad between Vicksburg and Jackson since before the Civil War. Once, there were many more cottages on the opposite slope.

Washington Street, view north (80mm Planar lens, Fomapan 100 film)

Vans, 2640 Washington Street (80mm Planar lens, Fomapan 100 film)

Heading west, we reach Washington Street, unusually quiet on a snowy morning. I have been unable to do much photographically with Washington Street, but the snow added contrast and eye interest.

Fairground Street (80mm Planar lens, Fomapan 100 film, yellow filter)

Fairground Street drops down to the west from Washington Street. These little cottages at the west end of Fairground Street have been here for decades. I have photographed them before. Most appear to be occupied.

2521 Pearl Street (80mm Planar lens, Fomapan 100 film, yellow filter)

This duplex on Pearl Street is on the east side of the street and faces the railroad tracks. All the cottages on the west side of the tracks have been demolished as have many on the east side, but I photographed them years ago.

Fairground Street Bridge (80mm Planar lens, Fomapan 100 film)

The Fairground Street Bridge is a Keystone bridge from the late-1800s. It is in poor condition and may be demolished despite its historical significance as being one of the only bridges of its type in Mississippi. I wrote about it in 2017. According to the Vicksburg Post,

"Nancy Bell, executive director of the Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation, said the bridge is listed as the oldest in the state, is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Mississippi landmark. 

The bridge was closed to traffic in 1995 as unsafe. Its approach at the intersection of Pearl and Fairground streets is overgrown with trees and other vegetation, and the crumbling structure crosses over the Kansas City Southern Railroad yard."

Way to go, Vicksburg, make us proud! Demolish a historic engineering landmark, while meanwhile trying to promote the city as a tourist destination.

Durden Creek, Waterways Experiment Station (February 2010 snowfall, Sony DSC-R1 digital file) 

3000 block of Drummond Street, view south (February 2010 snowfall, Sony DSC-R1 digital file)

I found some snow files from the winter of 2010.

KCS tracks, Warrior's Trail, Bovina (80mm Planar lens, polarizing filter, Fomapan 100 film)

These are the Kansas City Southern tracks next to Warrior's Trail near the town of Bovina. The sun was just coming out and the light was magical briefly.

Highway US 80 over the Big Black River, Bovina (50mm Distagon lens, polarizer filter, Fomapan 100 film)

 Finally, this is the US 80 bridge over the Big Black River a short distance east of Bovina.

KCS railroad bridge, Big Black River, Bovina (50mm Distagon lens, yellow filter, Fomapan 100 film)

A short distance south of the US 80 bridge is this concrete arch bridge, which carries the Kansas City Southern railroad tracks over the Big Black. I am not sure when it was built, but an arch bridge this high  is unusual for Mississippi. The dark stain on the concrete shows how high the Big Black can rise after heavy rains in west central Mississippi.

This ends out short snow tour of Vicksburg and immediate area. Come back to this article when it is 100° F during some scorcher of a muggy summer day.

All square photographs are from my Hasselblad 501CM camera. I scanned the negatives with a Minolta Scan Multi medium format film scanner controlled by SilverFast Ai software, running on an old Windows 7 computer.

Quick Visit to the Imperial Capital, Washington, DC (B&W film)

The protest sign man, Pennsylvania Avenue, directly in front of the White House

Business took me to Washington, DC, in September of 2018. I had not been to Washington for many years, and it was fun to walk around and see some sights that were new. I have always liked Washington. As a visitor, it is exciting to be at the seat of imperial power. These centers of empire (present or past) are always interesting because you see the trappings of power, the grandiose buildings, the monuments to heroes, and the souvenirs of colonialism or the souvenirs purchased with vast wealth (think of Moscow, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, Paris, or London as other examples).

But in Washington, it is challenging to do much creative photography in a short trip. Historic neighborhoods have largely been torn down or gentrified, and the cell phone crowd takes a million snaps of the monuments every day.

Room with a view: 17th Street from the Mayflower Hotel

My hosts reserved rooms for us at the Mayflower Hotel. Nice place! I appreciated seeing photographs of Harry Truman and other notable guests. Even Nikita Khrushchev stayed there (no nasty budget people's hotel for those Soviets).

FBI building, Pennsylvania Avenue (Leitz GGr yellow/green filter to lighten foliage)

Salad greens, Rosa Mexicana restaurant, 7th Street NW

I saw an interesting idea: grow the salad greens in plant boxes where the customers sit. Certainly fresh and wholesome.

Checking in, National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art is always rewarding. To think, you can see Rembrants and daVincis for free.

Mirrored pyramids occupy the concourse between the east and west buildings of the National Gallery.  Selfies have been taken here since long before the cell phone era. In the two frames above, I used the same 1949 Leica IIIC. It is a pity the photographer did not age as gracefully.

7th Street at the Mall

7th Street food truck

Walk along the mall, where you see tourists from around the world walking, eating, taking selfies, and hanging around. The food trucks are a decades-old institution, but I admit I have never tried their culinary specialties.

World War II Memorial

World War II Memorial with Lincoln Memorial in distance 

The World War II Memorial at sunset is a peaceful setting. The Lincoln Memorial is due west in the distance.

Tree trunks, 17th Street SW

Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, Washington, DC

The quote above is engraved in the granite panels at the FDR Memorial. It is a somber and meaningful place. Consider this quote when you observe the vile and self-serving man who occupied the White House as 45 and the way we institutionalize abuse of the poor.

This is the end of our short tour around Washington. As with so many other places, I should return and explore in more detail.

The black and white photographs are from Fuji Acros film, taken with my dad's 1949-vintage Leica IIIC rangefinder camera and its 5cm ƒ/2.0 Leitz Summitar lens. I previously showed a comparison of my 70-year old IIIC with the new Leica Monochrom black and white digital camera when I stopped at the Leica Store Washington DC.

Heading west in Jackson: Woodrow Wilson Ave. and Medgar Evers Blvd. (B&W film)

Construction at Children's Hospital, Jackson, from Woodrow Wilson Ave. (Leica IIIC, 5cm ƒ/2.0 Summitar lens)

1968 aerial photograph of the original University Medical Center building (from Preservation Mississippi). Woodrow Wilson Ave. is on the right. 

Woodrow Wilson Avenue is another major east-west arterial that crosses Jackson. Near North State Street, it passes by a cluster of hospitals and medical facilities, part of the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Preservation Mississippi recently wrote about the 1960s construction of the first part of this huge hospital complex.

Canadian National rail yard, 2018, Leica IIIC camera

CN rail yard, 2017, Fuji GW690, Kodak Tri-X 400 film

A long overpass crosses the Canadian National railroad yard. There is always activity there. Jackson has been an important rail junction since before the civil war.

Peace Street runs south from the viaduct. It did not look too camera-friendly, so I did not venture down there.

This bayou, just west of the CN rail yard, is one of the many creeks and drainage ditches that have been channelized in the past. I wonder when they will start un-channelizing them to allow plants and riparian habitat to be reestablished?

Medgar Evers Boulevard diverges from Woodrow Wilson and runs northwest-southeast, eventually becoming US 49 after it passes I-220 in northwest Jackson. Much of the infrastructure and commercial activity along Medgar Evers in west Jackson looks beat-up and dilapidated. The Delta Mart at 3133 Medgar Evers is an example. Many of the stores were closed. The sign had a 1960s vibe to it.

Continuing northwest, I came across some closed stores and empty brick house at the junction of US 49 and Forest Avenue Extension. A gent came to talk. He was Mr. Stevie Rose, as he showed me on his hospital identification wrist band. I could not tell if he was homeless or traveling somewhere, but he had a big bag of ramen noodles and other items.

This ends our short tour. A future article will have some pictures from Flora, which is a short distance north on US 49.

Most of these photographs are from Kodak BW400CN film, exposed in my dad's 1949 Leica IIIC rangefinder camera and a 5cm ƒ/2.0 Summitar lens. I scanned the negatives with a Plustek 7600i film scanner.

Wandering around east Jackson, Mississippi (B&W film)

South Commerce Street, Jackson, view south. The tracks are no longer in service

When in Jackson, I often go to Jackson Ice, at the corner of South Jefferson and East South Streets, to fill up with 100% ethanol-free gasoline. The area near South Jefferson is semi-industrial, with warehouses and various businesses. I have never been able to do much photographically there, but one early morning in December, the weather was suitably gloomy to lend a certain air to the scenery.

Several ice companies were clustered near or along South Commerce Street because they had access to the railroad. Jackson Ice, where I buy the 100% gasoline, is still in business. The Morris Ice Company on South Commerce closed in 1988.

High Street runs east-west from the Pearl River levee past the fairgrounds and then ascends a hill to State Street and downtown Jackson proper. A modern but unused building sits at the very east end of High Street, just below the levee and just beyond the driveway that leads into the Herrin-Gear automobile dealer complex. I had never paid any attention to the empty building and drove in one morning. It was the abandoned Junior Achievement of Mississippi building. According to the Mississippi Business Journal, Achievement closed in November of 2009:

JACKSON — The recession has claimed one of Mississippi’s most respected charities. After nearly a half-century of bringing work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy programs to the state’s school children, Junior Achievement of Mississippi Inc. is shutting the doors. 

“This decision is not one with which anyone associated with Junior Achievement of Mississippi was happy to make,” said David Barrentine, chairman of the board of directors, Junior Achievement of Mississippi. “This organization has a 40-year history of educating young people about economics and the marketplace. Accordingly, it is with sincere regret, but with a prudent view of its financial condition and prospects, that this decision was made.”

This was a nice-looking modern building. No one could use it? This type of inability to recycle a structure always baffles me.

The 1927-vintage Hinds County Armory sits unused and only minimally repaired at the State Fairgrounds. In 2009, I took pictures inside, but now there is plywood over the door. In 2013, I photographed workers doing some stabilization and repair. This time, I was able to place my Leica on a small opening on a side door and take a 1-second exposure of the interior.

I have never been able to do much of interest photographically with South State Street. But this time, the old fire trucks caught my eye.

East Rankin Street is pretty dumpy, too (OK, it is horrifying). But at least there is a car shop that repairs old Volvos! What nice and practical cars compared to the lookalike bloated SUVs that pollute our highways now. Blaine's Upholstery Shop does excellent work. (These sepia frames are from a Moto G5 mobile phone.) Please see my 2020 article on East Rankin Street.

We will continue our exploration of Jackson in future articles.

Most of these photographs are from Kodak BW400CN film exposed with my dad's 1949 Leica IIIC camera and a 5cm ƒ/2.0 Summitar lens. This is a C-41 film (sadly, now discontinued), meaning it can be processed with the same chemicals as any color print film. I scanned the negatives with a Plustek 7600i film scanner using Silverfast Ai software.

UPDATE July 2022:  The tracks running in the center strip of South Commerce Street have been removed and it looks like the City will install sewer pipes under  the right-of-way.