I was in Seattle for work last year, and added an extra day to the trip to explore the city on my own. That day was Halloween - a fun time to explore any city. In one with a history and culture as unique as Seattle’s, it’s extra special.
My first time in Seattle was as a kid in the late 90’s. My memories are dim, but I remember it being eclectic and fun - playing steel drums in a gift shop, seeing that “global village coffeehouse” aesthetic in many places. Feeling wowed to be in the birthplace of Nirvana and Starbucks.
I visited again a few times in the 2010s. Seattle felt bigger and bougier than I remembered. Breweries, cocktail bars, the EMP (which has since been renamed the Museum of Pop Culture). SubPop had replaced Gen X grunge with Millennial indie. Amazon had also arrived downtown, and was making its presence known. The city was booming.
In 2025, it’s still an amazing place - one of my favorites. But the vibes feel different. Amazon’s brigades of fleece vests and lanyards have been doing their part to flatten out much of the city’s edginess and character. There’s lots of money - probably more than ever - but wealth feels increasingly separate from the bustle of the street. Poverty and pain are more visible instead.
The crowds are still there. Yet everyone feels a bit more … isolated. Alone. And it’s not just in Seattle.
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We’ve grown used to being alone more than we care to admit. The downsides are obvious. But there are upsides, too. More time and space to look inward. To observe the world around us and appreciate our surroundings. To be mindful of how we express ourselves, and how others do as well.
Taken during a 15-hour period across Seattle’s downtown and Capitol Hill neighborhoods, my series uses a mix of medium and wide-angle shots to explore the feeling of being alone in a big city. With Halloween as a backdrop, it invites you to gently see and relate to others on a day that society deems most appropriate to present yourself however you like.
