Alan Wieder – Constructing Group Via Road Pictures

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In this episode I communicate with Alan Wieder, a road photographer, oral historian, and creator whose e book We Will Not Be Removed: The People of King School Park paperwork 4 years spent photographing at a park in Portland, Oregon. The e book captures the day by day lives of a predominantly African American group in a gentrified neighborhood.

Alan’s journey into this mission started in July 2020 throughout a political protest when he encountered a gaggle of males at King School Park. After asking permission to {photograph} them and returning the following day with prints, he turned a day by day presence on the park for the following 4 years. What began as informal documentation advanced into deep relationships with the group, notably with elders like Carl, Tracy, and Rosie, who had lived by way of the neighborhood’s transformation.

The park serves as a gathering place for individuals who have been displaced by gentrification however proceed to return to what they take into account their neighborhood. Alan captures not simply portraits however candid moments that present the connections inside this group. His strategy displays classes realized from learning with photographers together with Bruce Gilden, Peter Turnley, and Constantine Manos.

Beyond the pictures, he performed interviews with group members about their experiences with displacement and their connection to the neighborhood. The e book combines pictures with quotes from residents, making a narrative about resilience and belonging. Mitchell Jackson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning creator who grew up within the neighborhood, wrote the foreword.

Alan’s background as an oral historian and his earlier work documenting race and sophistication points, together with analysis on anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, helped form his strategy to this long-term mission. Now primarily based in Asheville, North Carolina, he continues road pictures whereas planning visits again to Portland to share copies with the individuals who made the mission potential.