Fotoeins Fotografie

location bifurcation, place & home

Posts tagged ‘Emerald City’

Space Needle, that tower again, Alki Beach, West Seattle, Seattle, WA, USA, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: native Seattle, Alki Beach Park

For a late-winter afternoon in West Seattle, Alki Beach offers a quiet and breezy respite from the hustle and bustle of the downtown area which as the cityscape (and the presence of the Space Needle) shows is only a few miles away. The differences come as no surprise: the pace is slower, the sensibility is uncomplicated, outlook and livelihood directed by the adjacent waters of the Salish Sea (Puget Sound).⁣⁣⁣⁣
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⁣⁣⁣⁣Perhaps it’s the latter what the indigenous Duwamish and Coast Salish people were pondering when a group of white settlers in the Denny party came ashore in November 1851. With his own group, Chief Seathl (siʔaɫ, Si’ahl, Sealth) of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes arrived to meet the strangers from the sea. Today, a monument and various plaques around Alki Beach Park highlight how the Denny party attempted to start their new life in what is now West Seattle, before they pulled up stakes and moved the following April onto the high ground next to the muddy flats of what is now the Pioneer Square District. ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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⁣⁣⁣⁣In its place, the city might have once been called “New York Alki” by early white settlers, but eventually, the growing city would take the name of the indigenous chief.⁣⁣⁣⁣ The intervening decades would see competing views of “place-stories” to fit future dreams and mourn the apparent loss of the “pristine past” without any acknowledgment of responsibility; both could and would be used to sell the image of the city.
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I acknowledge my visit to the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish (Dxʷdəwʔabš) People past and present, and honour with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe (src). I made the photo above on 6 March 2020 with a Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime and the following settings: 1/60-sec, f/11, ISO 800, and 18.5mm focal length (28mm full-frame equivalent). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-h9L.

The Troll II, Alison Marks, Tlingit, The Troll, Fremont, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: native Seattle, The Troll II

Inside the museum, I turned the corner and I saw a representation of a troll with its hand on a half-buried car to the lower-right.

Wait a sec … that’s very familiar.

In acknowledgement of one of Seattle’s sculptural landmarks The Fremont Troll, indigenous Tlingit artist Alison Marks produced her version, “The Troll II”, for the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of Washington. Marks states:

The Troll II, Alison Marks, Tlingit, The Troll, Fremont, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA, fotoeins.com

Alison Marks, about her “The Troll II” in reference to The Fremont Troll.

Alison Marks became the first Tlingit woman to carve and raise a totem pole when her pole was raised in Yakutat, Alaska on 27 October 2019.

⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣I acknowledge my visit to the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish (Dxʷdəwʔabš) People past and present, and honour with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe (src). I made the photos above on 5 March 2020 with a Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-ha5.

“Iconic Black Women”, by Seattle artist Hiawatha D

(Best you view these images NOT on a tiny mobile screen, but from your desktop or laptop. You can either view the scrolling gallery above, or move down into the post for the same images with important informative captions.)

As part of an ongoing journey to learn more about Seattle’s black community and their ongoing story, I visited the city’s Northwest African American Museum (NAAMNW) in March 2020. The museum’s permanent collection casts a spotlight on black migration within the United States, and the contributions by blacks to the nation and to the American Pacific Northwest. Also timely was the simultaneous visit of the NHL’s Black Hockey History mobile museum as part of their 14-city tour throughout North America.

I was especially moved by the museum’s special exhibition “Iconic Black Women: Ain’t I A Woman“, by Hiawatha D, an artist based in Seattle. His work and paintings highlight his story as a black man and black artist in America. His series of paintings “Iconic Black Women” shines a positive light on black women throughout past and contemporary American history: the important places they’ve occupied, and the important contributions they’ve made to human rights, music, literature, and sport. On sight of the paintings, the context, clothing, and body language may be immediately familiar. But many of the people painted don’t have faces, which allows viewers, especially young women, to see themselves in these figures, sparking and strengthening a connection between viewer and iconic black women.

I would love to see another name added to this list of iconic black women: Viola Desmond.

( Click here to see images )

A Salish Welcome, Marvin Oliver, Shilshole, Duwasmish, Salmon Bay, Puget Sound, Salish Sea, Ballard, Seattle, WA, USA, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: native Seattle, A Salish Welcome

The western edge of present-day Ballard where Salmon Bay meets Puget Sound (Salish Sea) was once a lively place for local indigenous people, near k̓iłalabəd (“hanging on the shoulder”) and šəlšúlucid (“mouth of Shilshole”). The Chittenden locks would have been near or at the location of the former indigenous village of šəlšúl for the Shilshole people. The 2010 wood statue, “A Salish Welcome” by Marvin Oliver, stands facing Salmon Bay. With support from Seattle Public Utilities and Seattle Office Of Arts, the accompanying plaque for the statue reads:⁣⁣

‘A Salish Welcome’ blends traditional Salish forms with contemporary media to create a sculpture that honors the local indigenous people and celebrates the abundant and vital life on this restored salmon habitat. The Welcome Figure traditionally stood in a prominent place in a Salish village to welcome guests. It is intended to mark and enhance this gathering place for contemplating our rich cultural heritage and connecting with the native landscape. This monumental Salish figure in ceremonial robe greets us and reminds us that we are stewards of this evolving living landscape for new generations of salmon and people alike. The disk of salmon represents the vital life cycle of the Pacific salmon, creating a timeless ‘vision’ for future generations.

⁣Marvin Oliver who was of Quinault and Isleta-Pueblo ancestry passed away on 17 July 2019 at the age of 73.

I obtained place names from ⁣⁣from “An Atlas of Indigenous Seattle” by Coll Thrush and Nile Thompson with maps by Amir Sheikh, appearing in Thrush’s book “Native Seattle” (2nd edition, 2017).

I acknowledge my visit to the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish (Dxʷdəwʔabš) People past and present, and honour with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe (src). I made the photo above on 5 March 2020 with a Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime and the following settings: 1/1000-sec, f/8, ISO 1000, and 18.5mm focal length (28mm full-frame equivalent). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-h9C.

liqted, Licton Springs, Licton Springs Park, Duwamish, iron spring, red paint, iron oxide, red mud, Seattle, WA, USA, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: native Seattle, Licton Springs

This is “líqtəd”, known today as Licton Springs. This place is Seattle’s first native landmark.⁣⁣

⁣⁣In a corner of Licton Springs Park, a couple of wood bridges cross over small creeks. Despite encroachment by urbanization over many decades and the pressure of being squeezed between Aurora Avenue and the Interstate-5 freeway, the water flow has essentially continued from the time before white/European colonization. Four springs and their emergent creeks flowed south into what is now called Green Lake. One of these springs, the “iron spring”, remains visible; the outflow merging downstream with a larger creek and iron-oxide mud staining the ground red. A cement ring collar provides some protection around the spring, a visible attempt to preserving this historic location. As a sacred site with medicinal and cultural use, the Duwamish people camped and built sweat lodges near these springs; they bathed in the mineral-rich waters and used the brightly coloured mud to make paint.

⁣⁣On 16 October 2019, the city of Seattle’s Landmarks Preservation Board approved the designation of the Duwamish site and Licton Springs Park as an official historic landmark of the city.

⁣⁣From “An Atlas of Indigenous Seattle” by Coll Thrush and Nile Thompson with maps by Amir Sheikh, appearing in Thrush’s book “Native Seattle” (2nd edition, 2017):

líqtəd (LEEQ-tud), “red paint”.

Licton Springs bears one of Seattle’s few modern place-names derived directly from Whulshootseed, the southern Seattle-area dialect of Lushootseed in the group of Coast Salish indigenous languages. People came here to the springs to collect clay, which was baked and mixed with tallow to create red paint. The area was one of the properties owned by David Denny (re. from the Denny group who landed at Alki in 1851); the area was once a health spa which eventually became a residential suburb accessible by streetcar. The rust-red springs are still visible today in Licton Springs Park.⁣⁣

liqted, Licton Springs, Licton Springs Park, Duwamish, iron spring, red paint, iron oxide, red mud, Seattle, WA, USA, fotoeins.com

Licton Springs Park: the iron spring appears on the ground at lower-centre. In the background are restrooms and the park’s playground.

I acknowledge my visit to the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish (Dxʷdəwʔabš) People past and present, and honour with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe (src). I made the photos above on 7 March 2020 with a Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-h9T.

My Seattle: Chris Cornell

Above/featured: Customers’ contributions on the walls of Beth’s Cafe in Seattle’s Phinney Ridge – 7 Mar 2020.

Where: Seattle, WA, USA.
Who: Chris Cornell.
Why: A search for traces he left behind in his birth city.

On 21 April 1991, an album of music both memorial and celebratory in nature was released, and changed not only the nature of rock at the time, but also the lives of many, both inside and outside the music industry. In the days and weeks after Andrew Wood’s death in March 1990, a group of people gathered to mourn and remember; they wrote new compositions and sang their songs. Temple of the Dog was born: the release of their self-titled album on that early-spring day in 1991 would be the only full-length album to the band’s name.

Decades later, the album’s 3rd track “Hunger Strike” is as compelling now as the first time the music video dropped in 1992 to grab my eyeballs and the harmony-melody-guitar-crunch latched onto my ears and brain. For lead singer Chris Cornell, intervening years included critical acclaim and success with Soundgarden and Audioslave, among solo efforts and other collaborations. Hours after performing on tour with Soundgarden, Cornell was found dead in his Detroit hotel room on 18 May 2017, shocking the community within Seattle and the community inside music at large; he was a young 52. Wherever they may be, that jam session with Cornell, Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, and Andrew Wood has got to be one for the ages.

21 April 2021 is the 30th anniversary of the release of Temple of the Dog’s eponymous album.

( Click here for images and more )

Macy's, Bon Marche building, The Bon, Thanksgiving, holiday star, Seattle, Washington, USA, fotoeins.com

Seattle: Thanksgiving holiday star & fireworks

As a wae lad, I was fascinated by comparative branding and marketing, and that’s how I got to thinking about the differences and similarities between Canada’s Hudson’s Bay Company in greater Vancouver and the American Bon Marché in Bellingham and Seattle. But I don’t ever recall a tradition of lighting a star for October/Canadian Thanksgiving.

In downtown Seattle, a grand building opened in 1929 for the locally-owned Bon Marché department store, operating for over 7 decades until “The Bon” became Macy’s in 2005. A holiday star designed by Bob James in 1957 would become a fixture for the city and her residents. In September 2019, Macy’s declared the downtown Seattle location would be closing at the end of February 2020. At the time, the announcement included no plans for lighting the holiday star.

However, the star looks to be coming back for one more (final?) illumination, as a local lighting company agreed to refurbish and reassemble the star in time for the 2019 Thanksgiving season. Festivities occur Friday November 29, beginning with the annual Thanksgiving parade followed by the star’s lighting and fireworks.

•   MyNorthwest, 27 Nov 2019.

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My Seattle: that tower again

“That Tower Again,” a three-word online phrase for the early 21st-century.

It’s a phrase I associate with Berlin and her TV Tower (Fernsehturm), and that comes with multiple stays and many months in the German capita, a city I feel very much at home (winters notwithstanding). With my return to the Canadian Southwest and near-proximity to Seattle, I reconsider my fondness for the city’s iconic landmark: the Space Needle observation tower. Sight of the tower hasn’t lost its allure since our first family visit in the late 1970s.

For the Seattle World Fair in 1962, construction of the Space Needle occurred over a mere 400 days in time for the “Century 21 Exposition”. The 605-foot (184 metre) tower stood for the spirit of innovation and the might of technology. The city of Seattle designated the tower as an official city landmark in 1999. Fast forward now into the 21st century, it’s unfathomable for resident and visitor alike to think about the Emerald City without its leading spire.

( Click here for images and more )

Central Library, Seattle Public Library, Seattle, WA, USA, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: Library Green, Seattle SPL

The central branch of the Seattle Public Library is a dazzling architectural addition to the city’s downtown district. From the upper floors, it feels like a vast cathedral of space and light. I forget about their collection of books, and marvel instead at the building’s design. Even the escalators are noteworthy: clean lines, bright colours, and clear signage to direct the flow of visitor traffic. Opened to the public on 23 May 2004, the building was designed by the Dutch company OMA with the support of Seattle’s LMN Architects.

I made the picture above on 6 January 2015 with the Canon 6D, 24-105 glass, and the following settings: 1/320-sec, f/8, ISO10000, and 28mm focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-byJ.

Chinatown, International District, Seattle, WA, USA, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: King and Maynard (Seattle CID)

I’ve been fascinated by the origins and appearance of words and characters since I learned how to write in both Chinese and English languages. Thanks to a variety of websites (particularly one about Berlin), my eye has recently been tuned to typography.

In front of the Fortune Garden restaurant in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (CID) are bilingual street signs which have been widespread throughout the area since 2013. North of Jackson Street, street signs switch from Chinese-English to Japanese-English; east of I-5 and 10th Avenue, street signs switch from Chinese-English to Vietnamese-English.

In the picture, the combination of Chinese characters have little meaning. But where transliteration to Cantonese is concerned, each Chinese character is an individual “vocalization” representing a syllable in English. South King Street becomes “南景街” which is pronounced “naam4 ging2 gaai1” and in literal terms is “south – view/situation – street”. Maynard Avenue South becomes “南美拿大道” which is pronounced “naam4 mei5 naa4 daai6 dou6” and in literal terms is “south – good/pretty – take/use/capture – big – road”. (See the note below* for more.)

I made the picture above on 11 May 2016 with the Canon 6D, 24-105 glass, and the following settings: 1/800-sec, f/11, ISO1000, and 47mm focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-byk.

* Arriving primarily from Guangdong province in southern China, people began building Chinatown settlements in North America in the 19th-century; most of the new immigrants spoke Cantonese. With my own intermediate proficiency in Cantonese, I’ve used CantoDict for the transliterations above. The numbers associated with Anglicized pronunciation of Chinese words correspond to six tones in the Cantonese dialect. A summary of the six Cantonese tones is provided in this video.

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