Maritime scenes captured in Lopez Islander's book

LOPEZ ISLAND, San Juan County - Jeremy Snapp grew up on the waterfront with a camera in his hands, just as his grandfather had, and between the two of them they shot about 25,000 images of ships and other maritime scenes.

Snapp sifted through the negatives to produce a book featuring 250 black-and-white photos and titled "Northwest Legacy: Sail, Steam & Motorships." He expects it to be the first of four books produced from the negatives.

"I could have included twice as many photos, but each page costs money," Snapp said from his Lopez Island home.

Snapp's grandfather, John Snapp, worked as an insurance broker and handled many maritime accounts, including the Bellingham Marine Railway, which later became Bellingham Shipyards.

"He probably made four or five trips up there, and each time he'd come back with 30 or 40 photos," Snapp said. "There were so many to pick from I had to be choosy."

The book includes two photos of the Bellingham Marine Railway, inside and out, taken in June 1941. Arch Talbot, later the founder of Bellingham Cold Storage, bought the company that month, and it's likely John Snapp photographed it for insurance purposes.

The book also includes a photo of the steamer Redwood at berth in Seattle. Built in 1917 at the Pacific American Fisheries yard in Bellingham, the Redwood was used for fisheries work until Pacific American Fisheries sold it to a trading company in 1935.

About 150 of the book's photographs were shot by Snapp's grandfather and the rest by Snapp. His grandfather's negatives and photographs were well-organized and most included dates, but Snapp had little more information to work from.

"I really had to be a detective," he said. "Once I found the date and could identify the vessel, I could start my research."

Snapp became interested in photography as a child on Bainbridge Island and later worked as a free-lance photographer and operated a commercial studio. He moved on to boat building and fishing, but he always carried his camera with him.

"That was something that was passed down from generation to generation in our family," he said.

Snapp spent five years working on the book and published it himself. He wanted to complete it in time for his ailing father, Gerald Snapp, to see it, and he was successful. His father died last fall.