I've been fascinated by sealed doorways and windows ever since I was a child. "Why's that door bricked up?" I'd ask my mom on our walks around the old parts of San Francisco. "Because they didn't need it anymore, I guess" was her answer. Later more questions would come to mind: "But WHY did they close it up? What was it used for? Who walked through those doorways and looked through these windows?" And most important -- "What's on the other side?" Or in my more conspiratorial moments: "What don't they want us to see?"

I'm still intrigued by closed-off doors and windows. I'm not talking about locked doors here. I'm talking about bricked-in, filled with concrete, covered by steel plate, buried in the earth, no-one-is-EVER-getting-in-here-again blocked up doors and windows. (Geez, what is IN there??)

I've been taking these for several years now as the opportunities present themselves. They're not fine art photos by any stretch of the imagination.Many were taken on Alcatraz Island, where I work as a volunteer, which contains a maze of blocked up door portals and other mysterious openings dating back to the 1850s.

Sometimes I've discovered what's on the other side. When I know, I'll post photos.