October 11, 2025 through November 05, 2025
Loren Nelson • The Colors of Time
The Colors of Time: Abstracted Visions from Astoria’s Boatyard
As a frequent visitor to Astoria, Spirit always provides me with exciting subjects to photograph. A few years ago, on my way to photograph my favorite rusty railcar, I became fascinated with taking close-up photographs of massive piles of colorful trawler nets at the Port of Astoria Boatyard. One day, I noticed a boat in for repairs called Iona, which is also my granddaughter’s name. Moving closer, I was completely captivated by the swirling patterns of paint, corrosion, and primer on the hull. This initial attraction grew into an obsession, and I have spent hours wandering through this forest of colors and textures, mesmerized by the incredible combinations of layered paint and rust! In my pursuit of abstract images, I am going beyond traditional visual representation and inviting viewers on a journey of personal interpretation and reflection.
Loren Nelson
For over 45 years Loren Nelson has photographed with a Deardorff 4X5 view camera and film, and used a traditional darkroom to produce selenium-toned silver gelatin prints. Recently, he has also incorporated a digital workflow, using 35mm digital cameras and an iPhone to respond more spontaneously to his surroundings. Along with his darkroom work, he prints his digital images on fine-art papers using archival pigment inks. Ongoing bodies of work include Pacific Northwest landscapes, seascapes, botanicals, and Under Wraps, a series on plastic-wrapped buildings and landscapes. Portfolios of new color work include a series on trawler nets and closeup abstract studies of rust and peeling paint from the Port of Astoria Boatyard in Astoria, Oregon.
Loren Nelson’s photographs are in numerous public and private collections, including the Portland Art Museum; the Hallie Ford Museum of Art; Salem, Oregon; and the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts; Tampa, FL. He is represented by the Portland Art Museum/Rental Sales Gallery in Portland, OR, LightBox Photographic Gallery in Astoria, OR, and Aurora Gallery in Vancouver, WA. His work has been published in View Camera, LensWork, B&W, Shots, and Analog Forever Magazines.
Website: https://lorennelsonphoto.com
Instagram: https://http://www.instagram.com/lorennelson52