- 01 SEATTLE SODO | "The first sign of fall is here."
European- American settlers came to the Seattle in the mid-nineteenth century: the city is named for the helpful native American chieftain who helped them. The area south of the first settlement was tideland and mudflats. These were reclaimed at the beginning of the 20C partly using material from topographical levelling works to the north. The photographs in this set are of buildings and businesses there. This image looks north over railroad tracks towards the two sports stadia on the fringes of Seattle downtown
- 02 SEATTLE SoDo | "THE NEW RAINFOREST ADVENTURE"
SoDo or SODO is an acronym for "South of the Dome" – the Kingdome stadium that was demolished in 2000. "South of Downtown" now serves just as well. I’d first seen this part of town on bus journeys to the Seattle Museum of Flight, passing Boeing field on the way. This image looks across the railroad tracks at the southern end of the AMTRAK and SOUNDER train maintenance and storage lines. The wording comes from the billboard and is not intended as a title – something I don’t use.
- 03 SEATTLE SODO | " … gourmet ..7-3141"
This view looks north to the structures of the Century Link Field and Safeco Field stadia with the downtown towers standing beyond. I’d walked a little way into this part of town before but wanted to explore further and to photograph. It really is vast with its street grid paralleled by the interstate which takes one past SeaTac airport. Impressions from the bus were of frequently grey streets and buildings enlivened by flashes of structural colour or bright billboards.
- 04 SEATTLE SoDo | "…. Energizer….softsoap….DEFIANT"
To the left of the last view there is an unfenced road alongside the rail lines included in Image 1. From there I was able to add to a small collection of Seattle train images but not here. Looking back, I’m not sure why I recorded bales of scrap cardboard, utility poles and blank blocks of buildings. Others may well have similar doubts but as I’m not trying to please clients perhaps that doesn’t really matter. Comments via the ‘CONTACT’ button are always welcomed! The ‘title’ came from a random selection of print on the card waste.
- 05 SEATTLE SODO | "CABINETS …. GRANITE"
The yellow ochre paint of this simple corrugated metal building was a beacon in its drab surroundings. The dark green conifer foliage looked well against that and the warm blue of the sky. Granite worktops and similar fittings are its stock in trade.
- 06 SEATTLE SoDo | "CHINA SHIPPING"
The reclamation and development of the tidal flats included docking facilities that in the nineteen seventies helped Seattle develop as a major west coast container port for trade across the Pacific. Their cranes dominate many westward city views and some photographs of them appear in the STRUCTURE galleries elsewhere
- 07 SEATTLE SODO | "BETTER OUTDOOR CLOTHING ……….."
SODO has many business types beyond the industrial. Filson is a high-end clothing store established to provide tough and serviceable clothing and equipment to miners in the 1890s Alaskan gold rush. I gather that virtually all the wide ranging stock is made in their workshops here. On my last visit to look rather than buy I liked its interior structural design. The style and quality of their clothing and accessories for city, back-country and in between appealed. They have a London store should I care to visit.
- 08 SEATTLE SoDo | "FILSON"
The double aspect FILSON sign stands silhouetted against the clear afternoon sky.
- 09 SEATTLE SODO | "STORAGE PLACES AVAILABLE"
I liked the proportions and detailing of this timbered building. I remember thinking that if I returned after a walk around the block the cars might have gone but my luck was out.
- 10 SEATTLE SoDo | "PACIFIC IRON & METAL Since 1917"
I liked the symmetry/asymmetry of the design, its proportions, the strong pilaster verticals and the subtle parapet stepping of this building.
- 11 SEATTLE SODO | "ARCO am pm"
I know that I’ll never be able to follow Ed Ruscha’s lead in photographing abandoned filling stations but at least I can collecting active ones. This is one such image but using public transport rather than a car to get around. At home in a rural area they are hen’s teeth and even in a city their numbers seem to steadily reduce. Here, apart from the structure itself I liked the angled setting of the pumps and their cars.
- 12 SEATTLE SoDo | "MACRINA BAKERY"
After much sunshine walking the Macrina Bakery was a welcome sight. Coffee, a blueberry scone and a scan of camera images sent me walking again. The inspired façade décor was based on container cranes operating over the railroad tracks behind the building (IMAGE 13). Three cars and one person in an image were, for once, acceptable.
- 13 SEATTLE SODO | Railroad and port container cranes
This photograph looked across the car park by the Makrina Bakery to the container handling cranes beyond. The inspiration for the painted façade image is evident. On an earlier walk on the road between the securely fenced dock area and the more open multiple railroad tracks I had taken some photographs but a police depot and their patrolling cars were inhibiting. The best viewpoint is at the ferry terminal where an open walkway offers a panorama of cranes and ships.
- 14 SEATTLE SoDo | "…. COATS …. DBD …. DRAB …. …. …."
This gate controlled cars crossing a spur of little used railway track to reach a small parking area. It opened against the gable end of a rundown single storey building used as a canvas for graffiti. The accumulation of paint layers contributed some dense colour textures and subdued tones.
- 15 SEATTLE SODO | "GROCERY OUTLET"
This is part of a quite vividly coloured mural painted on the long roadside wall of a single storey supermarket. It enlivened an otherwise drab stretch of Fourth Avenue. In more recent time it’s been overpainted with two bands of very boring beige. This must have taken energy, imagination and skill to create such a lively image to advertise the grocery business within. The grid of overhead wires intrigued.
- 16 SEATTLE SoDo | "…. DO THE PUYALLUP"
A poster advertised the Washington State Fair held in Puyallup to the south of Seattle. Utility poles and overhead wires were a common sight and this combination composition appealed.
- 17 SEATTLE SODO | "Symbol Of Service!"
There were more of these platform inspection vehicles behind the Star Rental fence but no vantage point from which to frame more and yet retain the emphasis on the signs.
- 18 SEATTLE SoDo | "Unplug"
Click here for the NEW YORK TIMES SQUARE gallery which has a selection of brightly coloured photographs made during a brief visit to that City. The possibilities in SoDo were more limited and this last image is spare in content to which colour contributed little more. The few hours spent walking around were enjoyable and worth the effort. For another Seattle walk through a similar environment please look at the adjacent ‘A BALLARD BRIDGE TO BRIDGE WALK’ gallery.