Portraits of Pioneer Square

(Jim Gupta-Carlson/PostGlobe)

 

 

 

Pioneer Square is a neighborhood of insiders – those who work and live in the area – and outsiders – those who are transient or tourist.

 

 

 

 

I am making a 30-day journey as a documentary photographer and a diarist into Pioneer Square. My role is that of an outsider. My journey begins in the area of 3

^rd Avenue and Prefontaine Place, and will present Pioneer Square as a series of portraits -- portraits of the land, the buildings, the people.

 

(Jim Gupta-Carlson/PostGlobe)

 

Prefontaine Place presents itself to the outsider – me, a resident of Seattle’s Central Area – as a resting place. It has a small park and a wading pool that has not been filled in many years. It also offers itself as a place to live, with artist’s lofts mingled with low-income housing.

 

At the same time, 3

 

^rd Avenue and Prefontaine Place is a transit hub.

 

(Jim Gupta-Carlson/PostGlobe)

To the north are the King County courthouse and the county administration buildings. Men and women in business suits disembark the Metro and Sound Transit buses and walk to their destinations, often in a hurry. Around them are fine art galleries, restaurants and coffee.  Around them also are the construction cranes, cars, and smells.  The smells of bus and car exhaust and savory foods mix with rain and urine.

Everywhere I stop I find a friendly face – and someone who wants to talk.  Few are scared by my big camera.  Consistently I am warned to be careful – of everyone else.  That fear is familiar – I am repeatedly warned of my safety photographing the Central Area and the Martin Luther King Way corridor – by all the friendly people I meet.  That is another paradox that has drawn me into Pioneer Square for this time.

(Jim Gupta-Carlson/PostGlobe)

 

(Jim Gupta-Carlson/PostGlobe)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Jim Gupta-Carlson/PostGlobe)

 

(Jim Gupta-Carlson/PostGlobe)

(Jim