The Pacific

Tulip Time

Every year the Skagit Valley, about 60 miles north of Seattle, celebrates spring with its annual tulip festival. Last year Bob and I planned to get up early one Sunday morning so we would be there at dawn - to get the best light. We imagined the fields of tulips sparkling in the first glimmer of daylight. The weather forecast was the default forecast for this part of the country: partly cloudy, possible rain. I think that has been the forecast for every spring day since we moved to Seattle. It can mean heavy rains, no rain, early morning overcast followed by a clear cloudless sky, almost anything really. So when we woke to rain we thought nothing of it and forged ahead, hoping that 60 miles would make a difference. But when we arrived the rain persisted. So much for the early morning light. Also we had forgotten to check field reports to see if the tulips were actually blooming. They were not. We did find fields of daffodils - but no tulips.

Undaunted we decided to try it again this year. Once again we rose before dawn and ignored the weather forecast. But this time we did check field reports and were assured that we would find the tulips in full bloom. Below are a few photographs I took last Sunday. The first was taken before dawn, when the area was still blanketed with fog. The others speak for themselves.

Photos taken April 2009.

My New Favorite Place In Seattle

is the Chapel of St. Ignatius at Seattle University.

 

When we moved to Seattle almost four years ago my brother Pat urged me to visit the Chapel of St. Ignatius. It took me awhile but I finally got there yesterday. What an experience. I arrived with a class of architectural students and followed along as the instructor, who had worked with the architect Steven Holl during design and construction, explained the thinking behind the design.

 

The interior space is organized around the concept of “a gathering of different lights” with light and dark spaces playing off each other. Holl imagined the chapel as “seven bottles of light in a stone box” with the color and light constantly changing depending on the time of day, the time of year, and the weather.

 

The impact of this amazing space is hard to describe. It is both exciting and comforting – at the same time. There is an intimacy about the space that encourages contemplation and wonder. Although each of the spaces flows into the other, each stands alone.

 

Photos here from the top are of the front and back of the nave, the choir, the reconciliation chapel and the Blessed Sacrament chapel (with a self portrait). 

 

Images taken February 2009

It's Not About the Coffee

As the home of Starbuck’s and Tully’s and dozens of independent coffee shops, Seattle is one coffee-drinking place. Not surprisingly, a recent survey found that Seattle is the second most caffeinated city in the country (after Tampa – where they drink a lot of tea) but it comes in at the #1 spot for the consumption of coffee. Although the image of everyone in Seattle carrying around a cup of coffee has become a cliché, there are lots of places to drop in for a cup. It often seems that there is at least one coffee shop per block and in keeping with the pattern we have a Tully’s in our building.

One of the things that strikes me whenever I go for a latte is how so many different people use the space for so many different things. Use of the term “third place” to describe libraries, coffee shops, and other community spaces has become so ubiquitous that it now appears in wikipedia. People use our coffee shop to work on their computers, to meet business associates, and just to “bump into life” (an especially apt description by Kathleen).

It is this bumping into life part that is the lifeblood of third places like my coffee shop. It is true, as many ads for pricey coffee makers claim, that it would be cheaper to make my coffee at home. But if I did that I would miss the chat I had last week with some other residents of our building – wonderful people who I had not had the opportunity to get to know – or learning about the informal inauguration party that will be happening tomorrow. I would miss being a part of an informal community that I value.

Which brings me back to the question: why are there so many coffee shops in Seattle? Is there something about this community that values community? Is the value of serendipity an implicit value in this entrepreneurial town? As the most educated city in the US are we driven by our need to exchange ideas? I’m not sure about the answer but I am pretty sure that it’s not about the coffee.

Christmas in Seattle

Last night as I was packing for Paris I was surprised to hear Christmas carols coming from outside. When I looked out the window I saw about a dozen ships all decked out in Christmas lights drifting in front of the Olympic Sculpture Park. On deck people were singing and the singing was broadcast so that the entire neighborhood could hear them clearly. It was beautiful. 

Turns out that this is part of the yearly Christmas Ship Festival. For 59 years ships have been sailing to over 45 Puget Sound waterfront communities where choirs bring a special feeling of Christmas to thousands of us. What a treat. And what a joy. Christmas carolers on ships. Where else but Seattle.

Image taken December 2008.

Environmental Portraits

In October I was fortunate enough to be able to take a workshop with Nevada Weir, who is known for her travel photography. In addition to being a spellbinding storyteller she has a knack for pushing students out of their comfort zones. One way she did this was to send us out to shoot environmental portraits with a wide-angle lens. The idea was to capture images of people in their environment. The thing about a wide-angle lens is that you have to get right up on top of someone to get anything interesting. It’s very different from using a telephoto lens that allows you to shoot people from a distance. I find that there is something more honest about engaging people and getting their collaboration in the image making process. They can say no. But you respect their right to say no and when they say yes something really magical begins to happen. You are treating them like a person and not like an object. Plus, you learn a lot about what matters to them.

 

The first two images on this post are from that shoot. But the experience energized me and made me want to begin to capture images of people working. I was especially interested in photographing window washers. I’ve always been a bit in awe of people who will dangle from ropes to clean windows of tall buildings. A few weeks later I had an opportunity to capture Thomas, one of the men who washes windows in our building.

 

I was delighted with the images I was able to capture and wanted to thank him. Today he was back outside my window so I was able to print out the final image on this post and give it to him.

 

Now if I could just figure out how to get on a tugboat.

 

Images - of merchants at Pike’s Place Market and of window washer on the side of our building - taken October 2008

The Dog Fleet

Last weekend we cruised around Lake Union on the ice cream ferry with Ryan, Samantha, Don, Viv and dozens of children with their accompanying adults. The ice cream was undistinguished but the cruise was terrific. There is something special about watching floatplanes, houseboats, fishing trawlers, sail boats, and kayaks intermingle with the city as a backdrop. 

Among the things we saw were two large fishing trawlers called The Labrador and The Retriever. The captain said they were part of the “dog fleet.” I took a picture of them in honor of Charlie and Christi who have two labs. So here they are for all you dog lovers.

 

Image taken July 2008

Fremont Solstice Parade

This year’s 20th annual Fremont Solstice Parade took place last Saturday. The parade featured the usual bands, floats, and marchers — plus about 300 nude bicyclists, It was one of those joyous occasions that we had been meaning to attend for the three years since moving here.

It was especially fun for us because we were attending a photography workshop at Art Wolfe’s Photography Center. Jay Maisel, who specializes in shooting street scenes, led the workshop and made the parade a workshop assignment. The photo featured on this post was my favorite of the day but I may add a few more on a future post. Some even feature a few of those daring nude bike riders.

Image: Bubbleman taken June 21, 2008. 

Out Of The Comfort Zone

Art Wolfe’s Photography Studio is beginning to offer some pretty amazing workshops and lectures. Most recently Freeman Patterson conducted a three-day workshop that focused on learning to see creatively. Twenty of us had the good fortune to see through a master’s eyes – to learn something about how to make our photographs better.

In addition to delivering lectures about principles of design and tips on how to execute some pretty cool techniques, Freeman gave us shooting assignments. The first day he asked us to photograph whatever we wanted – within the one block where Art’s studio is located. Each of us brought back three images for critique. The results were unexpected. The variety was so great that we might have been in different countries.

On the second day our assignment was to find images that evoked specific emotions. This time we could shoot wherever we wanted – as long as we were back within 90 minutes.

The fun thing about these assignments was that they pushed us out of our comfort zones. The initial reaction upon hearing the assignment was invariably: how am I going to do that? But as we took our cameras and embarked on our voyage we found it exhilarating, if challenging. By breaking out of our usual approach we found that indeed we did begin to see more deeply.

Images. Taken November 2007 at the workshop. Can you guess what emotions these were meant to evoke?

Books: The Nine Nations of North America

Just back from a trip to Miami I am reminded of the now classic book The Nine Nations of North America in which Joel Garreau describes North America as nine regions with cultures so distinctive that they seem to be independent nations. Although parts of the book (originally published in 1981) are dated and I still want to quibble about some of the boundaries, I couldn’t help feeling that Miami is as different from Seattle as Paris is from Berlin. Indeed Seattle has far more in common with Vancouver than it does with Denver, Chicago, or Boston.

The nine nations according to Garreau are:

• New England
• The Foundry
• Dixie
• The Islands
• MexAmerica
• Ecotopia
• The Empty Quarter
• The Breadbasket
• Quebec

He also identifies three aberrations:

• Washington DC
• Manhattan
• Hawaii

Having lived in four of the nations and two of the three aberrations I believe that Garreau’s approach has much more to recommend it than the red state/blue state division that has become so popular. Miami (capital of The Islands) sounds, smells and feels like an island. Atlanta, capital of Dixie, would never be confused with Detroit. It’s more than the look and feel of the places, it’s also the values and attitudes of the people.

The Garreau Group maintains a website that describes the regions in detail and adds “new stuff.” As useful as I think the book still is, I wish Garreau would do a complete rewrite. Thinking only about Ecotopia, the last 26 years have brought a technology driven economy, an Asian looking culture, and a new emphasis on education with Seattle housing the most educated populace in the US. Yes, we still care about the environment and enjoy the magnificent land but other elements have been added. I’m guessing that a new study would reveal an intensification of the characteristics that make each region so distinctive. After all, on this trip Miami seemed even more like an island than it did the last time I visited.

Image: Taken by Bob, Miami, May 2007.

Books: Wanderlust, A History of Walking

Seattle is almost always listed as one of the best walking cities in the US. In fact it is one of the things I find most appealing about living in downtown Seattle. Within minutes we can get to the new Olympic Sculpture Park, the Myrtle Edwards Park that edges Elliott Bay, and Seattle Center – home of every festival ever invented.

But walking in a city has more to recommend it than parks and gardens. It is, in fact, the city itself with its tall buildings and rushes of people that I find most seductive. I love the practical benefit of walking to baseball, football, ballet, symphony, rock concerts, grocery stores, shopping, great restaurants, and more coffee shops than most of us really need without firing up the car and searching for a parking place. I love the community and connectedness of seeing familiar faces and discovering new ones, of waving to the shop keeper down the block, picking up bread at Macrina’s, and stopping in for a few words with my favorite barista. Instead of moving anonymously from one point to another as you do in a car, I love connecting the dots to make a coherent whole of the landscape.

Books have been written on what makes for a good walk and a good walking city. One of my favorites is Wanderlust, A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit. Among many other things, she says: “I like walking because it is slow, and I suspect that the mind, like the feet, works at about three miles an hour. If this is so, then modern life is moving faster than the speed of thought, or thoughtfulness.”

There is much more in the book. She describes city walking and walking in the wilderness, the history of walking as a pastime, and the place that walking has held in literature. She writes about pilgrims, women of the night, and those of us who just like to wander through cities. She even wonders, as I often have, why so many people will climb on a treadmill (essentially a mind numbing activity) while avoiding a walk around the block.

Image: Walking lets you go your own way, April, 2007.