Marques Vickers’ “Herron Island, Washington” is a photographic survey showcasing the diminutive island with a land area of 300 acres and population of 150. Located along the Case Inlet of Southern Puget Sound, the island’s dimensions are estimated at one and a quarter miles in length by one half mile in width. Vickers’ nearly 150 images capture the prominent north and south coastline beaches, interior residential terrain and roundtrip ferry transfers from the mainland peninsula. The island is abundant with deer, eagles, seals, seagulls, Pacific geoducks (large clams), beach, flora, fauna and spectacular views of the Puget Sound straits. Despite Herron Island’s luster, safety and tranquility, it remains virtually unknown to western Washington residents and beyond. Herron Island was initially discovered in 1792 as part of Lieutenant Peter Puget’s expedition, under the command of Captain George Vancouver. The original landing party was greeted with inhospitable weather conditions and the island remained unoccupied for nearly fifty years. An American naval exploration party led by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes re-explored and re-charted Puget Sound including the island in 1841. The island’s name was changed from Wednesday Island to Herron Island in recognition of one of Wilkes' crew members. Little background has been documented about Seamon Herron. Another century passed with reportedly only a sole caretaker habitant. The island was privately purchased during the 1950s. Herron Island was incorporated on April 30, 1958 as a non-profit, non-stock Washington Corporation composed of the owners and purchasers of island property. Buildable lots were partitioned and resold for development. The island is currently self-sustaining and does not receive local, state or federal funding. Over the decades, the interior has been graded and roads connect the island throughout. A community building, fire station and water system has been established for residents. Access to the island is available exclusively via a daily operating ferry and limited by invitation only from an island resident most of the year. The crossing requires approximately ten minutes to the mainland dock.

A follow-up to the editor's two previous collections of primary documents of maritime history in the Pacific Northwest, this book reproduces the journals and narratives of Charles Wilkes, an experienced nautical surveyor who led the U.S. Exploring Expedition through inland Washington waters in 1841, and ten of his crewmen. Special attention is given to the many placenames that Wilkes originated.

This edition is a brutally candid confessional on the misconceptions regarding an idyllic lifestyle practiced on a Western Washington island. Herron Island supports a permanent population of 150 with residential properties spread over 300 acres. The island features no existing stores or commercial properties. It is separated from the ill-reputed Key Peninsula mainland by the Case Inset waterways of southern Puget Sound. Between 2017-2021, the artist/writer resided in a newly purchased trailer coach under the radar of county regulation scrutiny. While establishing his art studio and writing compound, he navigated the tenuous existence of scheduling a social lifestyle based on an unaccommodating ferry schedule. His memoir skates the blurry edges between recollection, discretion and outright fiction. The author profiles the particularities of peculiar residents. Full heaping helpings of satire, humor and periodic sorrow are dished with irreverence and a subtle wink to the reader. Anecdotes regarding his past and intimate musings are interwoven into present day island personality tales. He gently surveys a community of diverse individuals while frequently examining his own motives for island residence. He identifies random acts of kindness, hilarity and obnoxious personalities. Names are sometimes changed in portraying the guilty. Among his profiles include the legendary Samsquatch, Pessimists Society, Catastrophe Clean-Up, Seattle Freeze, Key Peninsula, Ferry Drydocking, Dead Neighbor’s Property Auction, Laundromats, Captain Curley’s Corner, Uninspiring Island History, Festivals, Tansy Patrol, Sustainable Next-Door Neighbors and the longest-term island residents, Black-Tailed Deer. An elected Homeowner’s Board of Directors manages the island’s interests influenced by self-interest. Factions battle for control of island financial and aesthetic policies. He is warned early to avoid island politics by one of the worst instigators who will later target him. The warring parties include Residents versus Weekenders, Party Enthusiasts versus Isolationists and Pensioners versus Younger Homeowners. Their exchanges are generally passive aggressive, but sometimes barbed blades steeled by malicious whisperings within this micro-universe. The author explains how he initially discovered Herron Island and impulsively purchased two land parcels. During his residence, he established a sculptural park amidst his single forested acre. He would ultimately be obliged to re-sell or destroy all of his constructions, renovations and outdoor artwork upon the sale of his property. His account of the real estate transaction is straightforward and tinged with melancholy. This chronicle is an accurate appraisal of the realities involved with permanent island residency. Herron Island remains a comparative bargain to more affluent Fox, Vashon, Mercer and Bainbridge Islands. For the majority of long-term residents and weekenders, the absence of pretense and a sense pf security are its most treasured features. The island remains generally unknown throughout Western Washington. Anonymity and eccentricity are considered welcome traits.

Shadowlands is a photographic concept edition accentuating contours, silhouettes and dominant color compositions of 150 photographic images. Many of the images are recognizable icons and landmarks. They are transformed into graphic arts appearance by employing photo imaging software. The accompanying shadows create a foreboding and often sinister impression. The result is a glimpse into the unconscious white space that frames and lightens photography. Photographer Marques Vickers has assembled a diverse portfolio of internationally compiled images. Their reverse lighting reinvents the impression, often upsetting our conventional interpretation of their substance and matter. The effect mirrors the surrealists’ notion of superficially unseen structures that open the portal for interpretative meanings. Imagery is enabled to transcend precise and simplistic definition.

This edition is an intimate photo examination of the infamous Butte, Montana sex trade once nationally recognized during the late 19th and early 20th century. Over 135 current photographs document the remnants of the famed copper mining town’s prostitution core. The work details historical anecdotes, narratives on colorful personages and perspective on an era when prostitution was locally institutionalized. The remaining Dumas Brothel is a profiled parlor house noteworthy for its operational longevity between 1890-1982. The Dumas is the longest tenured American house of prostitution. The property weathered numerous reform movements and attempts towards forced closure by governmental authorities. Owner tax evasion ultimately shuttered the property. Across the road is the Blue Range Building, the last street-facing example of the lowest extremity of prostitution once employed within the district. The seven sets of ground floor doors and adjacent windows housed segregated cubicles called cribs. Diminutive cribs accommodated only a single bed and an occasional washbasin. Lower esteemed prostitutes serviced clients from these utilitarian spaces. Butte’s prostitution industry reinforced a rigid hierarchy of distinguishing elite mistresses for the affluent and influential, from lowly street solicitors. The lifestyle of sex professionals was plagued by drug addiction, financial debt, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, abortion, violence and abuse by their patrons and jealousy-motivated clients. Suicide was common even amongst the highest regarded women within such a cannibalistic environment, During the turn of the twentieth century, Butte was one of the largest Rocky Mountain population centers. Its licentious reputation mirrored contemporary Las Vegas. Unlike many western frontier settlements, cowboy culture made minimal intrusion. Butte’s red-light district is a haunting environment with a complex past.