twisted reality: "Pigging Out"--photo series

In 2001, a new tradition was begun in honor of an effort made to save Seattle's Pike Place Market from demolition. Thirty years prior, the Market had created a bronze "piggy bank" statue--literally, a gigantic, public piggy bank, which they named Rachel. With the over $120,000 that passersby placed in the pig (in addition to rubbing its bronze snout for good luck), the city was able to save the Market.

This summer marks the 100th birthday of Pike Place Market, and Seattle is celebrating this--and, of course, the year of the Golden Pig by the Chinese Zodiac--with its seventh annual Parade of Pigs, wherein one hundred local artists have each sponsored and decorated pig statues to be displayed around downtown Seattle.

Of course, being a mere stranger ambling down the streets near the Market, I had never heard of the Parade of Pigs tradition, nor of its origin. Armed with the ever-present camera, my only thought was: "This could be a cool photo series." Actually, the whole thing reminded me of the dozens of horse--then ram--statues that local artists had displayed back in Billings over the last few years.

And thus began what I lovingly began to call the "Pigging Out" series, which involved setting out from my friend Mike's apartment each day for two-, four-, or ten-mile treks around the city to, among other things, capture each pig on film. Naturally, many other natives and tourists had the same idea, which gave me built-in models (whether they knew it or not) to pose beside the statues. I have yet to photograph all of the pigs, but nonetheless, here is what I have of "Pigging Out."