Alcatraz: The Other Side of The Rock

San Francisco is one of the world's most visited cities.  It is filled with culture, scenic beauty, an almost European feel in its allure and landscape, and offers visitors and locals alike a real multi-lifestyle experience that is almost unmatched in its color and diversity.  It is, simply put, one of the most wondrous and beautiful cities in the world.  I know of its appeal, firsthand, as I lived there for over 2 years.

One of my favorite memories of the bay area and its breathtaking scenery and visual elegance is the image I have permanently implanted on my minds eye.  It's the image of looking north towards the city as I crossed the San Mateo Bridge at sunrise each morning on my drive to work.  I see the expanse of the shimmering bay waters extending 20 miles or so, and the lights of San Francisco still on, as dark begins to give way to dawn's first light.  The first time I gazed at this stunning sight, I can remember almost wrecking my car into the side of the bridge.  "My God!", I thought.  It looked like the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz emerging out of the water!  I couldn't take my eyes off it.

That every morning drive turned a simple commute into one of the most visually stimulating experiences any person could ever want to have as they moved towards another day of work.  Talk about setting yourself up to have a great day, those drives over the bay and past the Emerald City took average days and turned them into golden memories of the Golden State.

It's part of the San Francisco experience that most tourists never really get to enjoy in its fullness.  Most visitors arrive in the city and already have well planned arrangements centered on the "Super 7" things-to-do, while in the Bay area.  The "Super 7"?  They would be:

1)      The Golden Gate Bridge

2)      Alcatraz

3)      Pier 39

4)      Chinatown

5)      The Cable Cars

6)      The "Wine Country" of the Napa and Sonoma valleys.

7)      Lombard Street

The more astute visitors know of other hidden treasures and include things like:

1)      The Presidio (national park and recreational paradise)

2)      Angel Island (nature getaway)

3)      The Palace of Fine Arts (culture, culture, culture)

4)      Sausalito (think shopping, food and art)

5)      The Winchester House (San Jose - 30 miles south)

6)      Muir Woods (Coastal Redwoods just north of the Golden Gate Bridge)

7)      Coit Tower (local landmark atop Telegraph Hill)

8)      Ghirardelli Square (think chocolate here)

9)      The Claremont Resort and Spa (unbelievable views, especially from their piano bar, of the bay from the hills above Oakland and an incredible resort)

However, no matter how astute the tourist, many of San Francisco's most fascinating aspects are often lost amongst all that is the Bay area.  One of those many things that are often lost is one of the attractions that are also one of the most visited; it's the other side of The Rock - Alcatraz.

I must have driven past it a couple dozen times and wondered about the prison that once operated there and all its history, and the movies that had been made about it, before I finally decided to take a closer look.

Like most people, I had heard so much about the dark side of the rocky island and it's violent past.  And also like most people, my curiosity had gotten the better of me.  I had to see this famous piece of American history landscape.  So, I took a Saturday and headed into the city from my east bay home in San Ramon.  I started my experience as most other tourists start their journey to Alcatraz - I bought a ticket down at the docks where the ferry departs.  Simple enough - got on board - readied myself and my 35 mm camera for the classic tour, and for a day of history lessons, and endless stories of murder and mayhem.  Yes, it would be a great day for darkness and upheaval, and I was ready to capture each slice of the pictorial gore.

I was in for a bit of a surprise.  I had taken this trip in the middle of spring and had not counted on what nature does to The Rock during this time of year, or what nature gave to Alcatraz long before man ever decided to turn it into some kind of Devil's Island.  Even as the ferry approached the island from a mile or so away, I could see evidence of color and textures I hadn't geared my brain to accept.  As we neared docking, I had already re-set my train-of-thought.  I decided to approach this trip as one of "Beauty in the Beast", rather than one that took the normal, single dimensional view of this place of so many tragic events.  I would take the harshness of The Rock and attempt to show the beauty that surrounded its core.  I hoped to use my somewhat unsophisticated lens to capture the good amidst the evil that lurked in the shadows.

The boat settled against the wooden dock with tethered security. I and a hundred or so other tourists shuffled off and onto the island's supposedly satanic soil.  This island had ghosts - you could feel them, I thought. 

Then as I walked forward and turned uphill a bit and toward the main building, it dawned on me; these ghosts picked one massively beautiful and now, peaceful place to reside their haunting. 

I looked through brilliant oranges, greens, yellows and shades of gold back towards San Francisco.  I saw the beauty, as it framed the evil and infamous current that surrounds Alcatraz.  You can see both, in the picture to the left.  So, there it was, my first shuttered glimpses of the other side of The Rock.

The tour guide continued his noise, and everyone's ears perked and twitched forward, eager to engage like a high-strung racehorse before a big run - everyone, but me.  My eyes were everywhere; there was so much beauty here.

There were ruins too, but even in their shadowed memories, I saw so much artistry to consider - I was lost in Alcatraz's exquisiteness.  Then, I had the good fortune to capture one of my favorite photos in an impromptu moment of clarity.

The tour guide had muttered something about the building we were entering.  It seemed as if he had said that is was some kind of work building where the prisoners had performed a daily task - laundry duty, license plates, metal shop, whatever.  While our uniformed soldier of history kept up his Hollywood-esk diatribe, my eyes caught glimpses of former inmate's dichotomies.  There was this window, and what a window this was - My God!  It provided those captured inside with a view out on the side of Alcatraz, over the Bay's waters, and onto the beginnings of Mt. Tamalpias, and the shores of Sausalito.

I just stood there and became fixated on how many eyes had looked out this window's false passage to beauty, and to the freedom just outside the concrete and brick wall.  All I could think about was how it must have felt to have been caged in this building, and have been able to look out this window, through this prism of possibilities, and onto what one's life could have been, had it not taken a tragic turn into a fateful abyss. I raised my camera and attempted to capture the image's dichotomous nature - it's seldom seen, other side.

This (above) is what I saw through my lens that day.  The darkness of where my frozen stance found itself, and the stark reality of what lay just outside - just out of reach - was revealing and treacherous.  This was a true window "pain"!

Our tour continued, as did my eye's journey, to find the softness of this rock - this island.  We moved outside again and towards the front side of the main prison building.

We toured the entire prison; saw the extremely small cells, (including The Birdman's) the shower facilities and the exercise yard (above).  I wasn't interested in that darkness - I wanted more of the unseen side.  I wanted the side that few took the time to see.  Although, I must admit that the "Yard" provided some of Alcatraz's most stunning views.  Again, I pondered the contrasts and conflicts that must have been felt each time one of the prisoners walked outside.

In the picture to the left you can see an open door (middle left) across the exercise yard that leads outside the prison's perimeter containment wall.  It was at this door, that the picture at the top of this page was taken when I turned to capture the Alcatraz that most visitors see.

I left the "yard", and headed for the front side of the prison, the side that contained the island's lighthouse (left).  There, below the bright blue, Northern California sky and emerging from a sea of yellow wildflowers was The Rock's beacon that warns sailors of its presence during the many days spent enshrouded in fog and Pacific mist - a dangerous beauty.

I allowed myself to imagine all the ships that this light had kept off The Rock's craggily shores.  There's beauty in illuminating, life giving, safety as well. 

I walked up to the Lighthouse, and from its base I turned south to face San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, and Oakland to the south and east.  I thought about the guards and other employees that had worked here, and how this place must have affected them - both harshly, and with astonishment at its natural allure.

Most people that visit Alcatraz aren't aware that the island was first used by Native Americans.  According mostly to an oral  history passed down from generation to generation, this small island, was used by America's natives as a place of isolation or ostracization, as a camping location, a place to gather foods (bird eggs and sea-life) and even as a hiding place for Indians attempting to hide from the California mission system.

As I stood at the foot of the lighthouse and allowed my eyes to see this other side of Alcatraz, I wondered about the natives long ago, and how they once saw this place that has become such a fixture in violent and dark, modern American history - temporary home to Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly and many other infamous criminals.

I put my camera to eye and took the three-shot, panorama set (below) that contained none of the island's buildings or landmarks that could indicate this island's troubled past.  I wanted my mind to always hold this image after I had gone on my way.

This unique adventure took place in the spring of 1985.  Through all the pictures, the flowers, the colors, the smells, the salty cool bay breeze, to this day, it is this panoramic set of memories, I value most from my unexpected encounter with "The Other Side of The Rock" - the rock they call, Alcatraz!

For more information about the colorful history of this historical island, please see the following sites:

http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/  (National Parks Service - General Info)

http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/indian.html  (National Park Service - "We Hold The Rock" - The Alcatraz Indian Occupation 1969 - 1971)

http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/  (Independent Web Site dedicated to the history of "The Rock" - a must see)

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