The IssaquahPress
A12 • Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Hardbound heaven ‘Issaquah: My Home Town’ is published pleasure By Greg Farrar gfarrar@isspress.com If you have ever wanted a hardback book of vibrant photographs of historic downtown Issaquah, your wait is over. “Issaquah: My Home Town,” by longtime local resident Michael Johnson, comes out this month. It contains 110 photographs of all the best downtown landmarks and events in all seasons of the year. Johnson, a ubiquitous presence in his signature Hawaiian shirts and camera around his neck, has self-published the beautiful 35-page, 8-by-11 inch volume. Some pages feature a single full-sized picture, while some pages present a single theme in a scrapbook style of three, four or five images. These are the secrets to this wonderful presentation: Johnson lives smack dab in the middle of downtown, he walks nearly everywhere he goes, he always carries his Canon DSLR with him and he plans ahead hours, days and months for a scene to match just what he sees in his mind’s eye. “Sometimes, I want it in a different season, when
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IF YOU GO Book signing party 4‘Issaquah: My Home Town’ 4By Michael Johnson 46 p.m. May 22 4Issaquah Brewhouse 435 W. Sunset Way The book, priced at $42, is available at: 4Boehm’s Candies, 255 N.E. Gilman Blvd. 4Issaquah Chamber of Commerce, 155 N.W. Gilman Blvd. 4Washington Federal Bank, 855 Rainier Blvd. N. the fall leaves come out or the green foliage comes out, or even just better light,” Johnson said. “As a photographer, you wait and wait, and wait and wait, and you give up, and sometimes 10 minutes later, you might get the perfect shot, but you’ve already moved on, so you gotta come back and get it another time, and sometimes that’s a year later.” Since the pictures come from more than 10 years of effort, they are the best of the best. It also shines as a work of history, because he did online research for his folksy picture captions, sharing a bit of background about many of the places and objects that
By Greg Farrar
Photographer Michael Johnson (right) self-published the book ‘Issaquah: My Home Town’ compiling 110 of his favorite photos he took of Issaquah. came into his viewfinder. Spring, summer, fall and winter images of Pickering Barn, Front Street, the Train Depot, City Hall and the Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-in pop in vivid color. Paragliders, Salmon Days, concerts and the Issaquah Farmers Market are featured. One of the stars in the book is McNugget, the rooster who has lived for more than a decade in the Staples parking lot. The theme Johnson uses to tie the whole book together is the ornamental
old-style lampposts that decorate the sidewalks and light downtown nights. Johnson grew up in Moses Lake, where he first started shooting with an Instamatic 110 camera at age 8. It was always the landscapes and scenics he loved the most to shoot. “It was really fun to take pictures and have them processed,” he said. “Back then, I think we mailed them out a lot of times and it was always exciting waiting for those photos to come back.”
In college at Eastern Washington University, he got his first “real” camera through serendipity. “My original 35mm I got from the roommate that owed me money for rent, and that was my Olympus OM-1,” he said, “and that was really great for a first camera. The glass on it was huge, and it took great photos. “I used to chase the most striking sunsets, and then I would make them more striking with a magenta filter,” he added. “I’d put that on the front and they’d be even more vibrant.” While studying to become, and earn most of his income as, a licensed massage practitioner, he kept up his interest in photography. With the 35mm camera, and through correspondence course videos and working at consumer photo retail stores, where he learned darkroom work and how to do his own custom printing, “that’s when I really started enjoying what I was getting.” After passing through Everett, Juneau (Alaska) and Renton, it was when he came to Issaquah in January 1997 that he found a town — full of friendly people — that really had a beauty worth photographing on a constant basis. His affection for the town led him into volunteering for years with the Downtown Issaquah Association. The switch to digital Canon equipment inspired the name of his side business, New Era Photography, complete
with a film-to-pixel logo. Johnson also earns income from photography by shooting the works of a number of local artists, especially painters. After they sell the original pieces, his photographs preserve them, and the artist can use the digital copy images for notecards, posters and other profitable uses. His photographs also grace many pages of the city of Issaquah website and he occasionally updates councilmember portraits. When it came to his 18year library of Issaquah images, friends began encouraging him to publish his best photos, and there were photo book projects he worked on for others that added to the desire for his own. Other people who have seen the book love it. “I took it by José Enciso at Triple XXX because it’s got a couple shots, and he loved it,” Johnson said. “He took more time looking at it than anybody, and it was so much fun to watch him go through it cause he was like, ‘Oh, who would have thought of looking and doing it this way?’ “He was really great to talk to about it. He wants one, and wants me to do some photography for him, and set up a booth during car shows to sell it.” Six cartons of books arrived from the printer during an interview with Johnson. “It’s nice to finally get into a form that I can get into people’s hands,” he said, “and they can enjoy it the way I do.”
‘Funny Girl’ returns to Village Theatre 20 years later By Peter Clark pclark@isspress.com The May 15 return of “Funny Girl” to Village Theatre brings milestones behind the scenes. Issaquah’s regional professional theater has kept much of the same talent since 1993, the last time it put on the musical featuring the life and career of a Broadway star set in the early 20th century. But those people at the helm of the lavishly involved show bring decades more experience to this year’s production. Both the costume designer and the master scenic artist worked on the show 20 years ago, and for everything that has stayed the same, they have seen
Providence Marianwood unveils ‘Ageless’ exhibit Providence Marianwood has a new show hanging in its gallery. “Ageless” features five local artists ranging in age from 87 to 92. Between them, the artists have 445 years of creative living.
many things change. “Funny Girl” tells the story of Fanny Brice and her history in New York from a life in vaudeville to waiting for her husband’s return from World War I. Though much of the show is told through song, “Funny Girl” relies a great deal on its many costumes — 187 to be exact. Costume designer Karen Ann Ledger delights in the hurdles presented by the sheer number of pieces in which to dress the cast, although she does admit it is a tiring process. “I love the challenge,” she said, recognizing at the end of the day, it is still costume design. “How bad could it be?” Though the process requires an enormous
amount of time to plan and create, she enjoys investigating the past for ideas that fit the present. “The challenge of the show is it is set in a time period that is not onstage very often,” Ledger said. The costume shop must create a great deal of the pieces from scratch, and that requires a great deal of research. “People aren’t that terribly familiar with how these pieces are put together,” she added. “We do rent what we can.” Even if the theater finds clothing, she said they still have to figure out how to make it relevant to the modern eye. “What was attractive in the 1910s was really not attractive to our eye,” Led-
The artists are all women. Their media include collage and oils, and their subjects include animals, nature and whimsy. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. The paintings will be on display through the end of the month. Providence Marianwood
is at 3725 Providence Point Drive S.E.
WSU wind ensemble to perform at IHS concert The Washington State University Symphonic Wind Ensemble will make a special appearance at Issaquah High School’s
ger said. “The waistlines were not tight, bosoms were not defined. We have to make a shape that is attractive to our eye.” Her work on the costumes began about a year ago, and between her other work, she found the time to research and begin design. The costume shop worked on last-minute alterations and
finishing the final piece in the run-up to opening night. “This ‘Funny Girl’ is in no way like the ‘Funny Girl’ I did all those years ago,” Ledger said, citing the experience those years bring. “You change your perspective. It’s the same level of focus, it’s just a different intensity.” She found excitement in bringing the extra years to inform how the show would look. “It’s been a long time since I’ve done this show,” she said. “Everything has evolved. Those thoughts I used to make the last ‘Funny Girl’ aren’t even in existence anymore.” The last show of the 2014-2015 season also marks the 100th production for the master scenic artist, Julia Franz.
“This show is huge,” she said. “I take renderings and interpret what they mean in the world of paint. There’s a lot of painting.” With three stenciled wall papers, three murals and a great deal more, Franz said there is still plenty to do as opening night approaches. Luckily, the theater’s last show, “The Tutor,” did not require a great deal of set work, so the technical production of “Funny Girl” began months ago. “We started to work on ‘Funny Girl’ at the same time as ‘The Tutor,’” she said. “It’s just so detailed.” With 20 years working for Village Theatre, Franz has found enjoyment in the demanding effort. “It’s hard work, but it’s hard fun work,” she said.
spring concert at 7 p.m. May 14. The concert is at the Issaquah High School Theater, 700 Second Ave. N.E. The community is invited to attend; admis-
sion is free. The WSU Wind Ensemble will treat concertgoers to favorites such as “Rhapsody in Blue” and “Overture to Strike Up The Band.” Also performing
are Issaquah High School’s jazz, concert band and wind ensemble. The WSU ensemble is on its spring tour and is scheduled to perform at Benaroya Hall on May 15.
IF YOU GO ‘Funny Girl’ 4Francis Gaudette Theatre 4303 Front St. N. 4392-2202 4May 15 to July 6 4Get tickets and times at www.villagetheatre.org.