iPhoneography Thursday: Challenger’s Choice (Seattle’s Underground Streets)

Posted on

by Lisa

iPhone Thursday 4-30-15 Under Seattle

It’s the fourth week of the month at Lens and Pen by Sally’s Phoneography and Non-SLR Digital Photo Challenge and that means it’s time for Challenger’s Choice.  Even though this looks like a creepy basement it’s actually my entry in the street photography category as this was an open air Seattle sidewalk in 1890.

Seattle’s original business owners made the unfortunate decision to build their new town on tide flats around Puget Sound not realizing the streets would flood during every high tide.  After the great fire of 1889 fire burned through every structure in the downtown business district city government decided to rebuild the town one story higher lifting everyone out of the flood zone and creating a proper angle for new sewer pipes to drain away from homes and sidewalks.  No one wanted to wait several years before rebuilding though so landowners agreed to add entrances to both their first and second floors in order to accommodate the soon to be raised streets. Retaining walls were built along the original roads, fill dirt was washed into these sections and vaults were added over the first sidewalks to support new sidewalks above.

This area is one of those original ground floor sidewalks.  The round couch is not period, it was left here after a movie shoot in the 1970’s but I like the dramatic touch of red in this dark space.

Published by

Lisa

28 thoughts on “iPhoneography Thursday: Challenger’s Choice (Seattle’s Underground Streets)”

  3. I would agree that there is a dramatic feel to this shot. Movie shoot at this place back in the day – sounds like it’s a iconic place of some sort. I suppose that’s a strip everyone in Seattle knows quite well.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. There is a popular tour that brings people down here to see the old side of the city and many of the businesses in Pioneer Square still maintain their underground floors but most of the walkways and sidewalks are now closed to the general public.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Lisa, your capture is an apt example of being able to see the discarded, mundane, and everyday objects as something much more than they appear. The image draws us into the drama, and the back story makes the image even more inviting. History always adds an important layer. Happy Photo Challenge.

    Like

  6. Gosh, but this is a disturbing shot – so static but so many inklings of what might happen next, or what might have happened just off camera. The remnants of such luxurious seating in this setting gives one goose bumps too. I think Jack Nicholson might be about to arrive…

    Like

  10. The red couch really shocked me as I scrolled down to see the photo! There’s something so creepy about this shot … I think it’s because it makes you wonder how the couch got there and how it got so beat up. Something bad must have happened! And the red, of course.

    Like

  12. What intrigues me most about this photo is the complete lack of perspective, so it’s difficult to know what this is. As I’m doing this while watching the pre-Derby hoopla, I thought at first, just for a second, that it was some sort of hat. 🙂

    janet

    Like

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