Urban Wandering

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Urban Wandering

By my own definition, urban wandering photography is visual exploration of the city. It is similar to documentary photography but less formal. In addition to architecture, it covers street scenes, found objects and various curiosities. It is perhaps closest to street photography, but in my case it doesn’t focus on people and even avoids depicting them.

While urban wandering conjures the images of flâneurs and flâneuses, an urban wanderer is not an idle bourgeois, but an engaged citizen who adores the city and uses photography to illuminate relevant issues, directly or indirectly. It is helpful to occasionally wander off into other neighborhoods, but walking in one’s own neighborhood every day makes it possible to notice and capture fluctuation and change.

Please follow me on Instagram for daily posts of my urban wandering.

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Deadpan industrial facades, unexpected splashes of midcentury modernism, and older housing abutting small industry…

As Seattle’s demolition frenzy continues to obliterate the histories of entire neighborhoods, my work celebrates the city’s unofficial landmarks. I engage in “urban wandering” and tell stories through photography and photo-based collage, sharing my love of place and inviting others to advocate for the places they love.Urban wandering reveals a wealth of architectural and visual character in every
neighborhood.

Last year, walking around Ballard, I noticed the unassuming beauty of its older commercial zones. Well-known and well-loved among Seattle neighborhoods, Ballard has long been home to small and medium businesses serving the maritime and aviation industries. Despite so many of its blue-collar businesses yielding to upperclass artisanal ones in recent years, small manufacturing (and complementary infrastructure) are still an important part of the neighborhood’s distinct personality.

While the city’s explosive growth and relentless gentrification will likely continue to reshape the neighborhood, its deadpan commercial facades, older housing abutting small industry, and mid-century modernism carry a visual and emotional quality that no new development can replace.

 

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, Garage Door Reflection

    Garage Door Reflection

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, A Warehouse

    A Warehouse

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, Vaupell Plastics Building, Facade

    Vaupell Plastics Building, Facade

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, A Flowering Tree

    A Flowering Tree

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, Green Industrial Building

    Green Industrial Building

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, Silent Meeting

    Silent Meeting

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, Blue House and Flowering Bush

    Blue House and Flowering Bush

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, Cinder Block

    Cinder Block

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, A Long Industrial Facade

    A Long Industrial Facade

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, A Pole with Light Reflectors

    A Pole with Light Reflectors

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, Loading Dock

    Loading Dock

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, Plants Reaching Through the Fence

    Plants Reaching Through the Fence

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, Modernist Ornamentation

    Modernist Ornamentation

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, Looking Through a Truck

    Looking Through a Truck

  • Lana Blinderman, 2018, Seattle Orchid

    Seattle Orchid

Honoring my mentor with my visual take on Seattle’s favorite landmark…

Pike Place Market lovers and followers of late John Stamets’ work will remember his late eighties photo book Portrait of a Market. In August 2017, the Stamets family and Friends of the Market created an exhibit of John’s panoramic photos, digitally reproduced and placed in the same locations the original photos were taken. The program included a docent-led tour and opportunities to document the Market with our own cameras. This is a snapshot of the market through my lens. John Stamets was one of my most influential photo-mentors, and this essay honors him as well as this important Seattle landmark.

 

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    Market Entrance and LaSalle Hotel

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    Lower Floor Signage

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    Sosio's Produce

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    Window on Elliott Bay

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    Mick's Pepper Jelly Shop

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    The Main Arcade After Hours

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    Fresh Fish Signage

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    Tourists in the Main Arcade

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    A Shop in the Economy Market

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    A Staircase Between Levels

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    Daily Dozen Doughnut Shop

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    Pike Place

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    A Mediterranean Corner in Post Alley

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    Windows of Rachel's Ginger Beer in Post Alley

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    A Light Fixture in Post Alley

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    Looking North on First Ave

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    The Showgirls on First Ave

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    Looking East on Pike St