“I Don’t See You” © Susan Gans, All Rights Reserved

The Photo Center NW in Seattle, Washington created a program for photographers not associated with a commercial gallery a couple of years ago. For the 2017-2018 season, four groups of two photographers each were selected to show work in a small space on the main floor near the regular galleries. I am showing with James Kuan whose images are color and about estate sales and flea markets. My work in black and white captures quick portraits in public places of people whose affect and demeanor point to a back-story that might otherwise be missed. Some of these images were first seen in 2016 at the non profit Gallery 110 in Seattle where I have been a long-time member or an Affiliate Artist and my two year tenure at Shift Gallery, also in Seattle.

This exhibition is the final in the 2017-18 PCNW series. It opened on April 2 and closes on June 10th.  PCNW is located at 900 12th Ave in Seattle on Capitol Hill.  Open hours are: Mon-Thur 12 to 9 & Sat-Sun 12 to 6pm.

This exhibition takes a fresh look at the idea of Urban. Each approach has a specific point of view and intent evident in the work. The exhibition is a tour of the urban landscape mainly relative to Seattle/Tacoma/Everett, New York and San Francisco with candid street shots, portraits in industrial or downtown locations, night lit long exposures in industrial locations, blasts of vernacular language from street posters, diptychs (duos) and composites in black and white images that show relationships of place within a neighborhood or two neighborhoods in different cities with similar cultural identities.  Janet Neuhauser  (www.janetneuhauser.com) and James Arzente (www.arzentefineart.com) were invited to join me, David Sokal and M R McDonald to work on this project I organized about a year ago.  For more information, go to the Gallery 110 website: www.gallery110.com and look under exhibitions… Upcoming.

A Witness to Change in Seattle | HuffPost

A review of my work and photographic interests was just published in the HuffPost on August 18th. The Article … A Witness to Change in Seattle… was written by Amy Pleasant, a contributor, writer and artist living in the Seattle area.  The link is just above.

This project was developed by the Everett Museum of History to be an exhibition at the Schack Arts Center.  The Museum partnered with me to photograph 30 baskets from the indigenous basket collection. Concentration has been on the architectural form inherent in the baskets themselves and ways of viewing them more creatively.  The Schack Art Center is at 2921 Hoyt Avenue in the downtown historic district of Everett, Washington. The Everett Museum creates an annual exhibition especially for the Arts Center to be viewed each summer. This summer, the show can be seen from June through August, 2017.

This exhibition at North Seattle College was curated by Gallery Director, Amanda Knowles. She speaks about the practical aspect of architecture but in this show… the key to understanding the premise is to know that “artists articulate how architecture and structure mix” in this collection of works. I have three interpretive photographs included that give an example of restoration, gentrification and a saved shell of a historic structure in a protected ghost town.

This exhibition opens on February 1, 2017 and runs through early March.

Side view of Hodges slated for demolition shows what is across Rockefeller Avenue that may or may not survive future changes in the downtown core.

This exhibition opening on September 17th through November 12th considers the issue of gentrification and how these changes impact the structure of  neighborhoods. The photographs are from different cities since there is a universality in how most cities are dealing with economic issues that drive the need for additional housing and office or production spaces. Twenty images are up on the walls with more to come within the time frame of this show. Examples can be found in the Urban Interventions Gallery.

The Everett photographs include a selection suggested by the Everett Museum of History. Everett is less than 25 miles north of Seattle but is a smaller city with a different character. Boeing is there, a Naval Base is there on its waterfront, along with a college and a fairly new dynamic arts Center in the downtown historic area. Everett also is home to artists and galleries once found in Seattle.

It is the government seat for Snohomish County, a mix of small cities and towns. Everett has not quite grown in the same way as Seattle. Historic districts are marked throughout the center city with buildings to be found on the City’s register and the Federal Register of Historic Sites.

The photographs in my series concentrate on the Hewitt Avenue Historic District in the downtown area. The other photographs are examples of what I have seen over a period of years in 3 different cities.

I will talk about the work on September 17th at 5PM and on October 20th, members of the Everett Community and the History Museum will present an oral history about some of the sites photographed.

Person stands still to concentrate and notice what is in the distance.

Gans_ONLOOKER_ArtStmt110

The artist statement for OnLooker is attached.  This exhibition includes 19 images from the OnLooker gallery.  The exhibition can be seen through July 30, 2016.

Work was seen at the Shoreline, Washington City Hall Galleries as part of the exhibition Modvale: Presence & Absence in Local History from late January through mid April, 2016. Currently, as part of the exhibition, Cross-Pollinations: Artists Working in Collaboration, the “Unfolding” book made for the September 2015 exhibition at Gallery 110 in Pioneer Square, Seattle is on view through August 5th.

In July, I will have a solo show at Gallery 110 called OnLooker. This exhibition concentrates on capturing candid portraits that portray emotion or a sense of vernacular cultural practices many of us share. This project will be seen as a gallery in the near future.

In mid July, more work about changes in city landscapes will be on view at Black Lab Gallery in Everett, WA. Urban Interventions, the gallery on this site,

Intensity… from OnLooker Project

will be updated to include this work.  My photographs will partner with a collection of  related paintings by Isabella Valencia, founder and director of Black Lab.

Gallery 110 has a collection of work under 12″ on the longest side for the holiday season. I selected 4 different photographs that are modestly priced and framed in 12″ x 12″ frames.  Gallery 110 can be contacted at www.gallery.com, if interested.

Cuba 2013

Text lying on etched stone…

Rainy day in the foothills of the Cascades in Washington…

Anacortes,  the center of this small city is evidence of urban farming.