The Eternal Life Of 'Twilight' In Forks, Washington

The Eternal Life Of ‘Twilight’ In Forks, Washington

by Roger Kisby

Part of a series about monsters and other scary things happening here through Halloween.

On the same road trip where I photographed Roswell and Area 51, I also spent a couple days in Forks, Washington, the setting of the Twilight series. Forks is a small town, about 3,500 people, and the chief industry is timber. Along the main road that runs through town every few vehicles that passes will include a truck carrying freshly cut trees from logging areas. One day, I went on a ride-along with one of those truckers who showed me where they did some of the logging. It was funny to talk to the loggers about what they thought of Twilight phenomenon. Their thoughts seemed mainly to be, it’s silly, but it’s good business for the town, especially important as the timber industry has suffered in the past years.

The town was definitely sleepy. One main grocery store, a few motels, and some shops. Before Meyer’s fans started coming, most visitors were, I gathered, sports fishermen. The folks I met in the tourist center were excited to show off the Twilight side of Forks. It was there I learned that the movies weren’t filmed in the town, but mostly in Oregon. But even if the town doesn’t appear in the movies, Forks still offers tours that take you past a truck like Bella would have driven, a house like Bella would have lived in, the high school, where the vampire/werewolf treaty would have happened, etc. etc. Here’s what I saw of Twilight and its vampires in this little logging town.

Previously in series: Portrait Of A Witch

Roger Kisby is an editorial and portrait photographer who lives in Brooklyn. You can see more photos at his Tumblr and on Instagram. You can also follow him on twitter.