creativity — Episodes — All Ways West Seattle

How We See Ourselves

Get to know Wes Olsen, a longtime West Seattle-ite who’s discovered a new way of viewing and valuing his community through his passion for street photography.

One of the things I love about street photography is the way that people are captured in very candid moments, not posing for pictures or framing themselves in a particular way. In the age of the selfie, it’s definitely a refreshing take. And sometimes the results can be pretty surprising, including to the subjects of the photos themselves, because street photography creates opportunities for people to see themselves in a very different light.

It’s a thought I took with me to the Junction recently, when I asked people I met on the street if they thought other people ever saw them differently than they see themselves. Hear the revealing things people of the Junction had to say.

How we see ourselves as individuals and as a community is something I find myself thinking about whenever I’m scrolling through the latest photos from Wes Olsen, a local budding talent who recently returned to sharing his work on Instagram under the handle westseattlestreets. We talked recently about what led him down this path, and how he’s capturing our everyday history through his camera lens.

Stay up to date with the street photography of Wes Olsen on Instagram through his handle @westseattlestreets, and check out more of his work at www.wesolsenphotography.com

Get in touch with All Ways West Seattle via our social channels including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, all under the handle @allwayspodcast

Matthew Lee Johnston: The Mind Behind PMA Magazine

Ever since this podcast began, I’ve been talking to people in West Seattle about the various pandemic-related pivots they’ve made in their personal and professional lives. In this episode, I get to know more about a member of our community who made a big bold move well before the whole world changed, motivated by his own internal thinking, his desire to try something different, and the drive to connect people in a positive way.

His name is Matt Johnston, and what he created back in 2018 to deliver on these ideals is called PMA Magazine. It’s focused on people doing good things for their community or the world, and finding out how they make it possible. We caught up with Matt to learn more about the magazine, the movement, and the man behind it.

PMA Magazine issue number six was recently released, you can find it at Easy Street Records or online at gethatpma.com.

Get in touch via our social channels including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, all under the handle @allwayspodcast

Jet City Laboratory Takes Off

As we begin to emerge from our protective pandemic bubbles, opportunities for in-person community connection of all kinds are starting to appear. One such happening is brand new: it’s called Jet City Labratory, a cultural incubator and collaborative space taking shape in the former 8 Limbs Yoga studio that sits just above the heart of the Alaska Junction. While the business is brand new, the enterprising mind behind it is someone you’ve probably seen or heard around the neighborhood plenty of times: it’s local DJ Derek Moon, who we caught up with to learn more about his latest creative endeavor, along with updates on his work promoting Seattle DJs and musicians through Worldwide FM, and the Soul Focus podcast that sprang from his popular nights spinning tunes at Supreme pizza bar.

Get in touch via our social channels including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, all under the handle @allwayspodcast

Voices of Experience

The podcast hits its one-year anniversary with a look back at how far we’ve come and gratitude for all the support that got us this far. We talk with Paul Casey about his KKNW radio show, Voices of Experience, and what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur, then replay the interview segment on his show that first introduced us.

Words on the Street

Get to know “typewriter guy” Sean Petrie who discusses his on-the-spot approach to creating poetry, including West Seattle-focused works collected in his book, “Listen to the Trees,” created with the Southwest Seattle Historical Society and published in 2020 by West Seattle-based publisher Documentary Media. And in part two of our interview with West Seattle Blog editor/co-publisher Tracy Record, we talk about commenters and what it takes to maintain a community forum, plus the allure of our area’s natural wonders, publishing highlights, one thing West Seattle could use more of and another that hopefully won’t change much.