Among the hundreds of Horace Sykes own slides are a few by others, most often members of one or another of the photography clubs he belonged to. Club members would sometimes travel together on club excursions. For instance Ira S. Doyle and Horace were part of a group that visited - if my memory serves me well enough - Hells Canyon together. We have a slide showing Horace at the Canyon, which is signed by Ira. And here is another Ira slide that is folded into the Sykes collection. I include it for contrast. While Horace is always concerned about finding another expression of sublime nature and values the qualities we count as picturesque, this view of nature - the 1000 springs - is fronted by some sort of utility structure - a station serving something - that is quite the opposite of picturesque. And yet we do get these waterfalls, which by the banal context created with this snapshot, come forward as freaks of nature. We will wonder if Ira had a handle on the irony. Whatever, he sent the slide to Horace - perhaps as a request. It may be a subject that Horace Sykes wanted for some unexplained reason but which he was not able, or would not dare to impetuously interrupt his photographic dream, to take himself. (Click to Enlarge)
