Yesterday I spent the afternoon in Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market photographing the many interesting people there. More precisely, I spent the afternoon in the areas immediately surrounding Pike Place Market after being told that I could not display my “Let me photograph you” sign inside the market itself.
I was ignored by hundreds and hundreds of people, which is normal when walking through a busy city, but the people who responded to my sign were quite entertaining. I met Aaron (on the left) at a sidewalk cafe. I ended up sitting and chatting with him and his wife for quite a while, which I much prefer to hurriedly trading a photo for a business card. The woman on the right was thrilled that my mission was photographing interesting people and that she was one of them. She has a “weird people” catalog on her camera, which I would like to see.
I didn’t get the name of the woman on the left, but her tattoo refers to Psalm 51, specifically verse 17. A group of youths were singing hymns nearby, so I asked if she was with them. Although they ultimately report to the same boss, they are on different branches of the org chart, so to speak.
I rate this outing as 80% successful. I could have communicated better with Pike Place security. They may have objected to my sign because they thought that I was charging for photos. If I had explained that I was not after money, they may have been satisfied. Several people asked how they should pose, and I was unable to direct them to my satisfaction. Despite these problems, I met a lot of cool people and took some nice photos. I saw homeless people, an engineer, a wedding, empassioned prayers, potheads, and a basketball-playing gorilla. What a great city!
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