Home»Old Town Valdez

TIME STANDING STILL
OLD TOWN
VALDEZ, ALASKA


The following images were taken in Old Town Valdez, Alaska in the fall of 2016. They represent my experience of it.

In 1964 an earthquake shook the town. Within moments the ground beneath the harbor liquefied.
Buildings and ships were swallowed by a ground which could no longer support them. The shaking
and crumbing earth had barely subsided when a tsunami with 30-40 foot waves crashed in
destroying much of what remained.
Fires from oil tanks took the rest.

This location remains untouched and is hauntingly beautiful. Signs of what used to be peek from
under the grass and rise from the water. Gravel crunches under your feet and you place your steps carefully, knowing this is a graveyard of time passed, lives lost and a town's ending.

There has been a 50 yr construction moratorium here and although lifted in 2014 , to my knowledge there are no plans to build as the ground remains unstable, with some parts designated a liquefaction zone
and sink holes still appearing.

It is my hope these images can bring you a sense of how I experienced it. Standing in the present but experiencing the past. Seeing nature reclaim the land while hearing echos of life long absent.