Perhaps you’ve seen him — an older, bespectacled, bearded man who stands on Wallingford corners snapping pictures of the street, businesses, the sky — and wondered, What is he doing? That gentleman is historian and Wallingfordian Paul Dorpat, best known for his “Now & Then” series in the Seattle Times’ Pacific Northwest magazine, and all those times you saw him photographing the sky from the corner of Meridian and N. 45th became this:
Cloud Bank, 45th Street and Meridian Avenue, 2008. Photographs by Paul Dorpat.
Dorpat’s huge collection of photos that documented Wallingford during 2008 are one focus of the Museum of History and Industry’s new exhibit, entitled “Now & Then,” opening this Saturday, April 9. The exhibit also features photographs from Dorpat’s collaborators, Jean Sherrard and Berangere Lomont. Here’s some background from MOHAI:
Paul Dorpat has been involved with “repeat photography” in Seattle for decades. Drawing inspiration from the Parisian daguerrotypes of cityscapes, Dorpat—and his collaborators—focus in this exhibit on four locales: Paris, Washington state, Seattle, and the Wallingford neighborhood.
The exhibit, which includes hundreds of photographs, begins with the Parisian origins of repeat photography and the images captured by Louis Daguerre that demonstrate the change in the Parisian urban landscape over time. Also included are Dorpat’s own now and then photographs from Paris. It then moves to our own state of Washington, which features stunning panoramas. The third section explores Seattle—these photographs are most well-known to audiences through Dorpat’s column and many books and include “contemporary” photographs from the last twenty-nine years. The fourth and final section focuses on the micro element: Dorpat’s own daily walks through Wallingford with more than 400 images that animate his neighborhood throughout one year.
Cherry Tree Corner, 46th Street and Corliss Avenue, 2008.
Photographs by Paul Dorpat.
Meridian Playground, 2008. Photographs by Paul Dorpat.
The Now & Then exhibit will run through Sunday, June 3, 2012.
Paul Dorpat had a clear vision of the future during The Troubles (late-60s – early 70s) in Seattle. I'm glad he's turn his attention to the rearview mirror. His equally clear vision of Seattle's past is rewarding necessity. Things are, indeed, closer than they appear.
We are so lucky to have him recording our history! I grew up in Wallingford/Green Lake in the 30's, and a lot of things are still there from that time.
My family came to Seattle in the 1890’s, so I grew up hearing about and seeing pictures of Seattle in the old days. Since the family’s history in Seattle was a part of my parents’ and grandparents’ lives, it became a part of my life, too. Now that all the older folks are gone, it’s kind of sad and lonely not to be able to share those memories. So, it is especially lovely to see Mr. Dorpat’s photos and read his articles. They show a kind of comforting continuity – at least to me, anyway. They show that, as much as things change, some things stay pretty much the same. Just like people, we get older, but we pretty much stay the same, too. ; ) You are right, Mr. Herrick, we are lucky to have Mr. Dorpat recording our history!