The story, photographed on assignment over the summer of 2024, was commissioned by Bear Guerra at High Country News and written by Elizabeth Whitman. It focuses on a group of people who adopt wild horses from the US Bureau of Land Management and train and show them in an annual competition in eastern Washington state.
While serving as Associate Photo Editor at Cascade PBS, I helped produce still photo shoots for the fourth and final season of Black Arts Legacies, a series focusing on living and dead Black artists in Seattle. I worked with the team to schedule the shoots for photographer Meron Menghistab, who has served as lead photographer for the series since the start, around the artists’ schedules and multiple video shoots. I also photographed some alternate, behind the scenes, and detail images to help flesh out the final presentation on the website and broadcast.
I spent a quick afternoon in May at Funko headquarters in Everett, Washington, with CEO Cynthia Williams, who’s been at the company’s helm for about a year after serving as president of Wizards of the Coast, where she oversaw Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. Funko, of course, is the manufacturer of Funko Pop! figurines, large-headed cartoony toys in the shapes of characters from just about every entertainment franchise and the worlds of music and sports. A big thanks to Jenny for the call!
In late April, Pike Place Market started a partial car-free pilot program on the streets outside the iconic Seattle landmark, something many locals have been advocating for years. The temporary street closure still allows vendors, those with handicap placards, and curbside pickups, to drive along Pike Place. The vendors I spoke with, including Troy Terry, who makes a daily delivery stop at the market for Ocean Beauty Seafoods, like the change, but have complained that they have to approach Pike Street from the north under the new program rather than turning left from 1st Avenue to enter the market. “So far it’s easier,” he said of the program, “There’s a place to park [a large delivery truck].” Since the start of the program (and after these photos in the first days of the pilot), the market has installed more picnic tables and seating on the street, and pedestrians seem to be taking the cue.