Brian Libby

Twin Peaks fans: My husband sent me this post of Max Ernst’s mechanical elephant and said, “Philip Jeffries?” A quick google of Lynch and Ernst showed a bunch of Lynch’s Ernst books being auctioned off after his death. Fascinating, no? Thanks, @brianlibby.bsky.social!

I absolutely loved this movie…my second Satyajit Ray film and I’m eager for more. Wow. boxd.it/gXkRJR

Taken during Wednesday's boat trip down the Columbia River, this is a pretty straightforward shot of the Lewis & Clark Bridge at Longview, Washington. But there's something I like about the smokestack: maybe how one expects the smoke to continue past the bottom of the bridge and it doesn't.

Portland's best-looking bridge, the St. Johns, taken yesterday early in our boat ride down the Willamette and Columbia rivers to Astoria.

Japanese poster for LE SAMOURAI (1967) Starring Alain Delon Directed and co-written by Jean-Pierre Melville - BOTD in 1917

A couple years ago I was interviewed for a series called Saving the City that has yet to be released, but they just shared this clip. It's weird to not how much my beard has grayed since then. vimeo.com/1235537082

I had a great time talking with artist and end-of-life doula Marne Lucas for this @orartswatch.org profile. She has a generosity of spirit and a collaborative nature that ties together her disparate endeavors. www.orartswatch.org/marne-lucas-...

Join me tonight at Design Portland (408 Southwest Fifth Ave., 6pm) for a presentation and discussion of my book! www.eventbrite.com/e/architectu...

Interesting…graffiti? Not sure what to call the paint applied to an otherwise blank pharmacy wall I passed by yesterday.

Finally addressed what was perhaps my most glaring omission among classic crime movies. boxd.it/gIsWsH

Having fun creating next Wednesday's book talk at Design Portland.

What an amazing night at my @portlandartmuseum.bsky.social PAM CUT show, talking about my book and curating a night of shorts and archival footage for a full house of people. So grateful!

Now playing, a Miles Davis album that Id like to see become better known.

Join me this Thursday! At the @portlandartmuseum.bsky.social's PAM CUT Tomorrow Theater, I will be hosting an evening of short films and selections from the Oregon Historical Society archives, including a 1970s student film featuring Matt Groening, an ode to Portland's Lovejoy Columns, and more.

I really enjoyed the movie Rose of Nevada last night: the saturated 16mm film stock and unsynchronized sound, the inexplicable time-travel narrative, the Cornwall setting. And I love that director Mark Jenkin shot, wrote, edited and did the sound design. I’ll be contemplating this movie for a while.

Absolutely delighted that my copy of @brianlibby.bsky.social’s book has arrived! Looking forward to learning all about Portland, Oregon!

From the Spiral Elevator to the Delta Dome, my latest @orartswatch.org architecture column contemplates what might have been over the past 120 years, collected in the captivating "Unseen Portland Architecture" exhibit at Design Portland. www.orartswatch.org/unseen-portl...

Portland friends, come see me this Friday afternoon! From 12-4pm, I will be at the Weedman Design Partners gallery (1905 NW 23rd Place), signing books and generally hanging out. My exhibit of photos remains on view there through October.

This evening I’ve enjoyed watching “A Photographer Films Amsterdam,” a kind of verite documentary from 1982 filmed for Dutch TV, full of people-watching with some great faces — after reading about it in Jeff Young’s book Wild Twin (@wildtwin.bsky.social) youtu.be/f1a6W2ZA8v0?...

A remarkable Jane Bown portrait: Bob Hope & Anita Ekberg gelatin silver print, 1962

Sal Mineo's performance is one of my favorites among Columbo victims. He's not onscreen that long, yet he quietly brings substantial emotional depth to the character. Plus every time I watch this episode, set at an embassy, I get fixated on the otherwise alien phrase "the legation."

My book received an incredible two-page spread in the print version of The Oregonian today. Pretty cool!

Watching Satyajit Ray’s The Hero tonight I paused the film several times to photograph the screen. Great cinematography.

Returned to the Unseen Portland exhibit this morning for a second look at unrealized projects I’m writing about for my next architecture column.

What a nice surprise! Morphine is still one of the nineties bands I listen to most. So thankful to have seen them play, back in NYC in ‘94. And this new song, made with the late Mark Sandman’s vocal tracks, sounds really good.

I love this 1903 design for what was known as the Spiral Elevator, designed Daniel E. Condon for Portland's Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition. At 180 feet, it would have been taller than any present-day local building. Alas, it went unbuilt. (As seen in the current exhibit "Unseen Portland.")

Thank you to the KBOO radio show Art Focus and host Joseph Gallivan for having me as a guest. We spent a half-hour walking through downtown Portland and talking about Mark Rothko, Mel Blanc, architects Michael Graves and Pietro Belluschi, and Pioneer Courthouse Square. kboo.fm/media/135637...

A return visit with one of my favorite album purchases of recent years.

An interview I did with Portland TV station KPTV about my new book... www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKxY...

Sometimes I still marvel that this beauty (a German shepherd coyote mix) was my childhood dog.

I don't normally like posting (or looking at) photos of myself, but Powell's Books just sent me this pic from Tuesday's reading and conversation, and it was such an extraordinary night — standing room only and a sellout of books — that I'm happy to share.

WHAT A NIGHT! We had standing room only at @powells.bsky.social and they ran out of copies with 20 people in line. I'm gobsmacked and grateful. Thank you so much to everyone for coming!

Happy Publication Day to Brian Libby (@brianlibby.bsky.social)! "In Search of Portland: Exploring a Transforming City" is now available from your favorite booksellers and directly from OSU Press! beav.es/YJJ #PortlandOregon #PortlandArchitecture #PortlandHistory #PortlandWalkingTours #ReadLocal

Appearing on the Hello Rose City TV show this morning. Thank you KGW and host Lacey Evans!

Excellent segment this morning with Brian Libby (@brianlibby.bsky.social) on AM Northwest featuring "In Search of Portland: Exploring a Transforming City" and the launch event tomorrow night (9/15, 7 pm) at @powells.bsky.social! beav.es/YdN

In Search of Portland, the new book by local journalist and architecture writer Brian Libby, reveals the stories behind the built landscape, the people, and the history that have created modern Portland.

You know it's a weird day when you do two different local TV news interviews in the morning and afternoon. Thank you KATU (that's channel 2 on your dial) and KOIN (channel 6)! Tomorrow I'm going for the hat trick (of ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates) with KGW.

Thanks so much to everyone who came to my gallery show opening yesterday! What a wonderful time. Huge thanks to Weedman Design Partners.

Any time I’m compared to WG Sebald and Teju Cole is a moment to savor. Thanks so much to @orartswatch.org and writer Justin Duyao for this wonderful article about my book! www.orartswatch.org/in-search-of...

The Way We Laugh Now, a special section of New Yorker cartoons from November 12, 2001

Thank you so much to @oregonian.com and writer Janet Eastman for this article about my book and Tuesday's reading at Powell's Books! www.oregonlive.com/books/2026/0...

I love that I’m actually getting social media ads this week for the show I’m curating, using my own photo. It’s pretty trippy seeing a shot you took in an Instagram ad.

My photographer-friend Patrick Smith, who has a side business digitizing others' archives, often from estates of deceased photographers, recently posted a cool series of late eighties/early nineties Portland shots by an unknown artist. I like these, and am curious to see if I can learn more.