I made this photo with a P.90 pin­hole cam­era. In con­trast to the dig­i­tal cam­era expe­ri­ence, this kind of sub­ject (with a lot of motion) is a sit­u­a­tion in which the result is always a pleas­ant sur­prise once the film is processed.

Oaks Park along the water­front is a small amuse­ment park adja­cent to a city park and a wildlife refuge. It is over 100 years old. On a cool, misty, Port­land day in early May there were a lot of fam­i­lies out keep­ing the chil­dren enter­tained and hop­ing for the return of sum­mer weather.

I was orig­i­nally attracted to this place when I heard about the float­ing floor of the roller rink. At Oaks Park there is an indoor rink with a beau­ti­ful 100 ft by 200 ft wooden floor. Because the area next to the river is his­tor­i­cally prone to flood­ing, the floor struc­ture is made so that it can be detached from the build­ing when flood­ing is emi­nent. Because the floor rests on floats it is then able to float above the pos­si­ble flood waters until they recede. The last time this hap­pened was 1996.

In addi­tion, the Oaks Park rink has the largest remain­ing skating-rink pipe organ in the world. Impres­sive even for a non-skater like me.