The Seattle Times Presents 'Portraits of Homelessness' at The Seattle Public Library May 4
release date: April 21, 2017
The Seattle Public Library will host a community presentation by Pacific NW magazine writer Tyrone Beason and Seattle Times photographer Erika Schultz to share the stories of residents from outdoor settlements around Seattle's SoDo District from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4 at the Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Level 1, Microsoft Auditorium, 206-386-4636 .
Library events and programs are free and everyone is welcome. Registration is not required. Parking is available in the Central Library garage for $6 after 5 p.m.
No one is better suited to discuss our ever-shifting homeless crisis than the people who live in the camps that have sprung up under bridges, on vacant lots, in greenspaces and along streets all across the Puget Sound region.
Beason and Schultz visited outdoor settlements around Seattle's SoDo District to invite residents to share their stories and concerns, in their own handwriting and from their unique vantage points. They compiled a journal of their reflections, along with intimate, black-and-white photographs, to put a human face on a condition that calls into question our collective humanity as we grapple with how to address this complex issue.
These portraits of homelessness reveal the toughness, shame, humor, generosity and wisdom one finds at the edges of one of the most robust economic booms in the region's history. And they reveal how close we all are to the edge.
Beason is a staff reporter for Pacific NW magazine in The Seattle Times. To generate story ideas, he enjoys picking the brains of interesting strangers and knocking on doors without an appointment.
As a photographer for The Seattle Times, Schultz' work has received a number of awards. She was also part of The Seattle Times' 2010 Pulitzer Prize winning team for breaking news reporting. Alongside her work at the newspaper, Schultz works as a part-time visual journalism professor at the University of Washington, serves on the Western Washington Board of the Society of Professional Journalists and is the co-founder of NW Photojournalism.
The event is presented in partnership with The Seattle Times.