Optical October
Lots of photos from this October! Events happened. Trips were taken. My ankle healed more. The Courts are back.
The bulk of these photos are from a road trip to Spokane. A change of scenery and being around fun friends is great motivation for more photos. There's film that I haven't developed too.
Scotty put together a rad art show and a zine to go with it. Brought together a good crew of friends to check it out and celebrate with him. He says a bigger show is on the horizon. Can't wait to see it!
Onward to Spokane. The onset of autumn brings the desire to hit the road for a skate trip before the rains set in. We've gone to Boise a bunch of times. Always a fun time and great weather this time of year. To switch it up this time we gave Spokane a try. As a teenager I visited Spokane from Montana quite a bit. Fun to skate (RIP to UTF), and do things like back to school shopping. Much better than shopping at Pamida. My Polson friends know. Anyway, we got some tentative yeses, and Dorian booked us a house. It all came together as we got closer to the travel dates. 3 Andrews would be on the trip. That wasn't confusing at all. Andrew Morrison joined us, and his local knowledge made the trip so much better. We cruised past spots I remember from my old visits and many other spots were long gone. Spokane still offered us a lot of fun skating. I sent many pictures to Nich Kunz so we could reminisce. One highlight of our rental house was a theater room with a massive TV, 6 full on recliners, and spots to sprawl out around the room. We watched old footage of everyone on the trip, some classic Spokane videos, and a documentary about Glacial Lake Missoula. Enough with the words, here are some photos.
Spokane has a cool waterfront area. A carousel, public art, bridges, and many views of the river. But Garbage Goat is the best thing down there.
Classic Spokane spot. Looks good, but has the roughest ground right where you want to pop. Dorian gave it a good go.
Dorian pole jammed out over the pad. I maybe should've got my other flash on this one, but I still love how it turned out.
Scenic Spokane river front.
Golden hour with Drew Dulin and Andrew Bumgarner.
Classic Spokane spot. Drew with the blunt and A. Morrison with the casper stall. We went straight from this to a Spokane Chiefs hockey game.
This spot is at the middle school where Andrew went to school. It's a rebuilt version and has this amazing spot. He got a nosegrind while Jon got a switch crooks off.
Back to Portland and The Courts 2.0 opening. Nick Pelster has put a ton of work in to making this happen. Plus the architectural skills of Taj Hanson have made this an amazing spot. I'm excited to see where it goes from here.
We left the courts for some actual skating. The light was too nice to not get these of Dorian, Drew, and Andrew.
Another fun Nug show at the Kenton Club. Laughing About Nothing and Dog Daughter were amazing too.
Now for some self promotion. Not sure what gift to get for the skater or photographer in your life? May I suggest one of my books. I published this at the beginning of 2026. 12 years worth of portraits (over 300 of them!) shot on the same half frame camera. I'm already 2 rolls into the start of a 2nd version. But that might take another 10 years. No web store for ordering. You can hit me up directly. $45 for the local hand off, or $50 if it's shipped within the US. You can email me at george.cutright@gmail.com to make the order.
Until next time, it might have been.
George
