My complete Seattle Ethnography

Pike Place
Picketer

This
picture represents poverty. This fella is one of the first people I noticed
when I walked into Pike Place Market. His behavior is ironic because he is
there to have people listen to his music and give him money, but his body
language shows him hiding from the world. His hat is tilted to cover his eyes
from us and he is leaning against the column as if to blend into the building.
The act of trying to hide actually got me to notice him. I chose to the word
picketer because he is playing the guitar with a pick.

Living between
the Walls

This picture was
taken near Pike and Second. It represents poverty. It is the alley where trash
from the stores is put but if you were to ask them what they were doing, they
might say digging for treasure. The two men have baskets in order to load up
anything they may find. I suppose the saying “One person’s trash is another’s
treasure” can be applied here. I wanted to show this picture because I almost
walked right by them on the street. I felt that they were living between the
walls because most trash alleys are narrow and inconspicuous.

Star-bucks
Star-looks

The reason I chose
this title is because this man was at the original Starbucks coffee shop singing
and playing his guitar. He is working for his own type of star-bucks. The woman
had just walked out of the coffee with her iPod on and with her Starbucks food.
I was lucky enough to catch her glare at the man singing. I’m not sure if the
note he was singing was clashing with the song she was listening to, but she
does not look pleased. It made me think about how much of a nuisance are people
singing on the sides of shops? Are they good or bad culture?

Smoking Hot

This man was nice
enough to let me take his picture. He represent poverty. He is standing down by
the peers on Elliot Street in Seattle. His sign says “Got change? Or a smoke?”
When I asked him if I could take his picture for a school project, he simply
shrugged his shoulders, as if he didn’t know what he wanted. I title this “Smoking
Hot” because this man was desperate for a cigarette. I later witnessed him
picking up buds of cigarettes on the ground in order to smoke what was left of
it. Contemplate wanting something so bad that you would take someone’s
leftovers to have it. How does that feel?

I got it at Macy’s

Macy’s on 3rd
Ave. This store represents luxury in Seattle. Macy’s tries to give the feeling
of competence when you shop at its stores and a person has to have money in
order to shop. This Macy’s building is grand and big. It stretched around a few
blocks and had its own parking garage with a sky bridge. Even the tree planted
in front of it is tall and grand. I can imagine during Christmas time this tree
is lit up with beautiful lights. The funny thing about that is there plenty of
people without electricity year round.

got it at Macy’s

Macy’s on 3rd
Ave. This store represents luxury in Seattle. Macy’s tries to give the feeling
of competence when you shop at its stores and a person has to have money in
order to shop. This Macy’s building is grand and big. It stretched around a few
blocks and had its own parking garage with a sky bridge. Even the tree planted
in front of it is tall and grand. I can imagine during Christmas time this tree
is lit up with beautiful lights. The funny thing about that is there plenty of
people without electricity year round. got it at Macy’s

Macy’s on 3rd
Ave. This store represents luxury in Seattle. Macy’s tries to give the feeling
of competence when you shop at its stores and a person has to have money in
order to shop. This Macy’s building is grand and big. It stretched around a few
blocks and had its own parking garage with a sky bridge. Even the tree planted
in front of it is tall and grand. I can imagine during Christmas time this tree
is lit up with beautiful lights. The funny thing about that is there plenty of
people without electricity year round.

Office

This picture was
taken on a bridge crossing over the train tracks and Elliot Street. The man in
the picture is talking on the phone and leaning back in his fancy office chair.
This picture represents luxury because the man is in a nice suit and in a nice
office building with large windows with pretty views. It is a comfortable environment for those who work there. There is a feeling of safety/ security when able to work from such
a nice place.

Set Sail

This Beautiful sail
boat was docked down by Elliot Street. It represents luxury because a boat can
cost up to what a house may cost. A person who can own a sail boat and dock it
in Seattle is living in luxury. They have the freedom to set sail on the open waters.
It is a way to get away from the everyday life of concrete Seattle and see the
world from another view. That is luxury

et Sail

This Beautiful sail
boat was docked down by Elliot Street. It represents luxury because a boat can
cost up to what a house may cost. A person who can own a sail boat and dock it
in Seattle is living in luxury. They have the freedom to set sail on the open waters.
It is a way to get away from the everyday life of concrete Seattle and see the
world from another view. That is luxury

High Rise

As I walked around the streets of
Seattle I began to notice that in order to find luxury I had to look up.
Everything representing luxury was above me. Tall buildings, airplanes flying
over Elliot Bay, and even art work. This picture captures the essence that
everything luxurious seems to be made high…high rise. The taller the building,
the nicer it looked. This made me feel that luxury is out of reach from street.

Symbols of Poverty

Unknown Sleeper

As I was walking around Heritage Park I saw a lot of park benches and instantly pictures from movies popped into my head of homeless people sleeping. I took this picture because a park bench can be a symbol of poverty. It can be a place where the homeless can feel at home and be able to sleep. If you look close enough you might just see an unknown sleeper.

Artist Unknown

I was walking down 5th street when I saw this tagged stack. I took this picture because someone took the time to climb up a building just to tag it. This stack is on top of a rundown, abandoned building. It is located right next to Heritage Park and seemed to be the only rundown building my eyes could see. This building had board up windows and doors. It is a building I have seen a lot but I have no idea what it was used for. It surprised me to see that it wasn’t tagged as much as I thought an old, unused building would be.

Shopping Cart with Out a Home

I took this picture because it is a classic symbol of
poverty and homeless in cities. Homeless people will use shopping carts as a kind of home, a home that they can move and put their valuables in. This person most likely just used the cart to carry their groceries to the nearest bus station. The bus station itself can be a symbol of poverty. Usually people who cannot afford a car or the gas for a car will take the bus. It is a cheap way to get around. It is a popular mode of transportation for teenagers who are without the funds for their own car.

Insight

"La Carne de Mula No Es Transparente"


The above caption translates: the meat of an ass is not transparent. It would be the same as saying "you make a better door than a window." After revisiting this ethnography project that saying came into my mind as I reflected on the picture I took right infront of Pike's Market. My original intention was to get a picture of Ryan conversating with a homeless lady and her dog. After taking the picture, I noticed these signs were in the way; I almost discarded it. Then I realized that these were stacked signs, including the homeless man that I failed to see. The same homeless man that I thought was in the way of my subject. Instead he became my subject and the portrayal of stacked signs. As I had mentioned, there are more than restaurant signs out in the streets of Seattle, there are signs of poverty all around. From this ethnography I learned of a sight unseen!

Unconnected Pieces

At the higher (wealthy) end of Seattle, by the waterfront, I took a picture of this mosaic artistry. What caught my attention was the hand that states Coop. As I viewed the mosaic and its setting, I came across a huge Irony. The mosaic itself presents itself a symbol of the poverty that can be found in Seattle. The Coop Hand is a piece of art that can literally mean helping hand. The scattered, plain pieces range from pictureless glass to native american symbols. As close as these pieces of glass may be they are never fully connected together, I see no resolution but a scattered awareness of images and symbols representing culture. The beauty of the project Romanticizes and pulls people away from the problem of Poverty. I question if it is okay to settle for saying "poverty is just part of the culture." That is what I see in this mosaic piece of art. It is a wealthy message that sets aside poverty in Seattle, and instead makes you believe that there is a "helping hand."

Just Below the Surface

Being unable to make the Seattle-trip, I spent a day in Downtown Olympia observing poverty and wealth. For a while I was actively looking for different representations. Anna Minor and I went out of our way to find any and all potential symbols. Wealth was the easiest, as those with the funds are more willing to flaunt them than those without.

We began at the waterfront. With all the boats, there was an abundance of potential.

Watery Driveway

As if owning a boat alone wasn’t enough, now it’s a house and a boat. This house boat with its paneled walls, lovely blue and white trim, and outdoor bench isn’t even the most luxurious part of this photo. The little sailboat, “Windrush” (and the surrounding boats) is only used when the owner has the time. The houseboat is in constant use, the others however, are weekend get-aways. Plus, as anyone who has ever owned a boat knows it is expensive: Bring On Another Thousand!

This means you, all non-boatowners.

Boat owning is a highly selective hobby. Well... not really. It's actually fairly simple if you have the money for it. Only those with the ability to own a boat breech the chain-link fence. This sign might as well read “Anyone who cannot afford a boat, get the heck out.” As if the height of the fence isn’t intimidating enough, there’s an electronic lock blocking all who are unworthy of the marina.

Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon

Unfortunately, there are no people in this area, which would have been ideal. The fountain of Downtown Olympia is frequently filled with children and their families cooling off on a warm day. The state-owned fountain is a symbol of the wealth of the city. Or at least the wealth in this part of the city.

Shattered

After leaving the docks, Anna and I made our way to another part of Downtown. I’m honestly not sure which street or area we were at, but it was an immediate difference. The first think that was obvious was the lack of color in the walls. Buildings, as we walked farther, became more and more in need of repair. Finally, we came to this. Glass littered the ground under the two broken panels. The wooden thing is probably the source, but we have no idea what happened. We walked to the front of the building to find that it had been the old electric company.

Barren

Yes, this is probably obvious, but ignore the fact that it’s a food bank for a moment, forget that it’s designed for those in poverty. Instead, look at the building itself. Look at the ground and the surrounding area. Now scroll up and look at the fountain image. Go ahead… I’ll wait… What did you see? The waterfront has trees and art. There are decorations to improve the landscape and view. The area around the food bank is dull and lifeless. The only plants in the area is some wild grass around the telephone poll, and I can almost guarantee that wasn’t done to improve the landscape.

Window Shopping

We found ourselves back on the main road. It was well after lunch and we were both very hungry and were on our way back to my car. As we left, we passed by the boutique. The dresses in the window caught our eye. They’re adorned with some impressive sparkles—probably rhinestones—and already made of expensive fabric. These dresses aren’t used for daily outings. They’re special event dresses that are usually only worn once. I wish I had the funds to buy a $500-$1000 dress just to forget about it after one night.

The Unnoticed

Before this class, my identity was that of this cosmopolitan-world-traveler out to rid the world of hunger, and really just inequality. The key idea here is that somewhere along the line, I picked up this idea that I had to travel the world to make a difference. Interestingly enough a big part of the reason I travel the world is to see poverty and lend a hand. Post exploring Seattle through a
new lens, this reoccurring theme of poverty at home continued to force me to focus on reality. On our venturing tour of Seattle where I more or less grew up; I realized that what I have sought to accomplish outside of this country in third world countries is very attainable in my own backyard. This makes me wonder why I never noticed the poverty all around before. In the past every
time I’ve gone to the city I can imagine myself looking upward; that day I looked downward. By looking down, it was almost as if this city that I’ve claimed as my stomping grounds, is not the city I thought it was all along. Through these images of luxury and poverty I was struck by the inequalities I consciously chose to refuse to see.

As a result, before this trip to Seattle and the readings in this course, I may have scoffed at the man reaching into the garbage on a busy city street. Though, once I viewed the city without a luxury filter, I began to realize the self-sustaining mini economy this man exemplifies. I followed this man around for a few minutes as he listened to his music and remained completely unnoticed by everyone around him. Sadly, I never would have noticed this man slowly walking from garbage can to garbage can peering in for aluminum cans. However, on that day I slowed down and noticed. Upon realization, I was able to recognize not only this man, but many others who have created their own cycle of income by taking what no one else wanted and providing for themselves. Thus, not only did the saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” become so true, this project forced me to recognize the unnoticed people in my very own city.

Today's Events Won't Be The Same Tomorrow!

This was taken at the Fairmont Olympic hotel. As we had the doors opened for us by the doormen, we ran right into this schedule of events that the hotel was having for the current day. It was interesting because it included meetings with council and congress touching on the subject of medical liability insurance. It was just so much to swallow because I didn’t know who have the highlighted names were, but people in nice cars had been piling in the hotel one after another so each event was of some importance. The Georgian is a fancy type ballroom/conference hall where everything is gold and shiny, and it looked as if we shouldn’t go in without an invitation. This definitely struck me as a place of luxury, and the list of events change by the day; what a place.

Olympias Wealth

Olympia Boating

I was walking down in down town Olympia when I stopped on the board walk next to the Oyster House. I looked out a crossed the calm water looking at the beautiful scenery. I noticed the different types of boat and snapped a photo. I took it just before the rain started so the mood of the picture is like the calm before the storm. This photo represents wealth because there are some e fancy looking boats in this photo. I think of boats as coasting a lot of money and wealthy people like to show off their money by buying a boat. This picture could also represent poverty because fishermen use some of these boats for fishing. When thinking of fishermen I think of someone trying to earn enough money to pay their bills.

Living Big

I took this picture because I often drive by this mansion and wonder who lives there. This beautiful mansion is located just off the shore of Capital Lake with a beautiful view of the Capital building. When I think of the word mansion I automatically think of a crazily rich family living the life. There would be a tennis court in the back yard with the stereotypical family of a mom who stays at home with the $100 haircut, the father in the study doing business, and the children off to private school. I do not know if such a family lives in this building but it does make a person wonder at who is living big. Whoever is living here must have money.

The Big House

I took this picture of the Capital building while walking though Heritage Park in down town Olympia. I took this picture because this is a place where high officials meet and work. It is the symbol of power and wealth. Power because high officials work here and wealth because let’s face it those high officials are pretty wealthy. This building is where things go down.